


Tension in the Superhero Workplace

by A_Cold_Wind_Blows



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Flirting, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, F/M, Mild Sexual Content, Post-Invasion! Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Stakeout
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-09-08 21:19:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 72,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8862517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Cold_Wind_Blows/pseuds/A_Cold_Wind_Blows
Summary: Supergirl is trapped on another Earth! Thankfully it's one she knows, but when she goes to S.T.A.R. Labs looking for help, The Scarlet Speedster is unavailable. Her only choice is to turn to the Green Arrow and boy do things get tense. Then they get better. Then they get tense again. Then they get... tense...





	1. Chapter 1 - Bad Vibrations

**Author's Note:**

> I became obsessed with this crackship after the Invasion! Crossover. I've just always been a fan of unlikely pairings and these two are so different, yet you can also see the common ground between them if you're willing to look.
> 
> Have fun reading!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara fights an alien! Same old, same old, but then some weird, not-so-great stuff happens.

"What are these guys called again?"

"Zoltams!"

Supergirl gave a small, involuntary grunt as she smashed her fist into the side of the spaceship, causing the alien metal to bend and twist and give off sparks while also destroying the on-board computer.

"Right, right, Zoltams start with a z, z's are for sleeping, the z's stop when they wake us up with sound," Kara recanted as she dropped alien metal scraps and wiring onto the warehouse floor.

"More specifically sonic based technologies," Alex explained, per the briefing, as she took one alien criminal down with two gunshots to the shoulder and a second behind her with a kick to the neck. "They're way ahead of Earth techology. They even found a way to turn certain vibrational frequencies into energy that they use to power entire cities."

"I'm pretty sure we did that too. It's called Broadway." Kara giggled a bit before zipping off after three straggling Zoltams.

"Supergirl, please be very careful. This race was not found in any Kryptonian databases, they're an almost unknown threat." J'onn explained calmly over the com. "Everything we know comes from information we gathered from seized Cadmus databases. We don't know what kind of effect they might have on your physiology."

J'onn had more to say but Kara could barely hear him as she focused her heat vision. The strange weapons that the escaping Zoltams were carrying melted in seconds, causing them to drop the melted bits in pain. Kara then super sped around them in a cyclone before wrapping all three of them together in some bent rebar that she worked like rope. Afterwards she dusted her hands off for a job well-done.

"These guys aren't much stronger than humans," Kara responded as she brushed the hair out of her face. "You worry too much J'onn. You probably could have handled this yourself no problem."

All of a sudden Kara heard a loud scream behind her and she turned to see Alex, standing over an unconscious Zoltam that had had a weapon in its hand.

"Whoops, guess I missed that one," Kara said with an apologetic shrug. Alex only responded with a shake of her head.

"J'onn is still recovering. Even though mom was able to purge all of the White Martian cells from his body, his shapeshifting physiology is still recovering." Alex explained. "Besides, it leaves more bad guys for us."

"Sister team-up!" Kara shouted with a laugh. "It's been too long."

"The spaceship is secure thanks to Supergirl," Alex reported to J'onn, professional and straight to the point, though she was giving Kara a warm smile. "Agents outside are making sure none of the Zoltams escape into the general populace, and we have all of the leaders wrapped up. I think we're good here."

"Hold on!" Winn suddenly shouted over the com. "I have one last heat signature coming from an underground bunker near the south entrance of the warehouse. They thought they could sneak by me but they can't sneak by the dungeon master that easily!"

"I'm on it."

Kara took off a second later, scanning with her x-ray vision until she saw the alien. It was underground, bent over something that looked similar to all of the other alien weapons she had seen today. Rather than spend time looking for the entrance, Kara began to spin at super speed as she flew headfirst toward the ground, digging through a few feet of concrete and earth before crashing down behind the Zoltam. She stood up shaking off the dust and debris before brushing her hair out of her face again.

"It's over. We've already captured the rest of your crew. Surrender now, for your own safety."

She thought she sounded very professional, very strong, maybe even a little intimidating, but the Zoltam ignored her completely as it continued fiddling with its alien device. For a moment Kara thought to speed over and take the alien down, but she decided on the diplomatic approach for at least one more try.

"You're under arrest by order of the DEO, for the crimes of stealing secret government technology and endangering the lives of civilians with your sonic power experiments."

"The planet of Zoltam does not recognize the authority of your DEO," A robotic voice responded. The alien turned around to look at her and Kara saw now that this one was older than the other crew members. The Zoltams were basically humanoid in appearance, the main differences being their slightly larger heads, blue pupil-less eyes, and the yellow hue to their skin.

This Zoltam though had some sort of technology around his neck and Kara realized then that the voice was coming from that device. 

The robotic voice continued. "We escaped our planet to free ourselves from the yoke of the arrogant Guardians. We will not let some immaterial and backwards Terran shock troops cause us to flee again."

"You don't have to flee, you just have to stop your illegal activities," Kara explained carefully as she watched this strange Zoltam hold up a small device. It was similar to the other weapons she saw earlier, but somehow smaller and shaped differently. It almost looked like a horn. The resemblance grew when the Zoltam put the device up to its voicebox, aiming one end at her.

She sped forward to neutralize the alien but all of sudden she felt something, like a shudder go through her body. It was gentle and warm at first, and then all of a sudden it was not.

"AGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!" Kara screamed as she felt every part of her body suddenly pull away from her, like her organs wanted to leave her body but were being stopped by all her pesky skin and bones. Then the skin and bones wanted to leave too. "ARRRGGGGHHHHHNNNNOOOOOOOOAAAHHHHH!!!!"

She could barely hear shouting from Winn and J'onn on her com. When she looked up, she saw the Zoltam smiling as the device he was holding glowed with a blue light while the space around it shuttered and moved, like the air on a really hot day. Instinctively Kara moved again, trying to get to the device so she could stop the pain, but she only managed to get a few feet before the unbearable agony she felt suddenly found a way to double.

"I would not recommend you get any closer. This device sends out a sound wave that causes every molecule in its vicinity to vibrate at a different frequency. The closer you are to the source, the stronger the wave affects you. Soon you will be out of sync with physical matter and be forced into a liquid form. Approaching me will only make it work faster."

It was like getting a chill up your spine during a creepy movie, except the chill was actually hundreds of small knives, and it wasn't just her spine, it was everywhere. Even as she screamed in agony, Kara felt the noise leaving her mouth suddenly shaking too, as if even her voice was affecting her. Hurting her. Due to her invulnerability, Kara was not used to dealing with this level of pain. She would do anything to make it stop.

Screaming made it worse, moving made it worse... Kara felt close to passing out. She had a thought then, that it would be so easy to just let herself drift off... to let the device do what it needed to do... maybe once she was a puddle of broken matter, the pain would stop...

She thought of Clark then, of her parents sending her from Krypton, living with the Danvers family, her first time stopping the plane and revealing herself to the world. She had saved Alex that day...

"Alex," Kara mumbled to herself, even as forming the words caused that strange, painful feeling again around her mouth and jaw.

Alex wasn't ready for this. Any minute now she would come running in to save Kara, like she always did, and then she would have to feel this, this unbelievable pain! This was the worst pain Kara had ever felt and she feared what this device might do to someone without invulnerability. What it might do to her sister. What it might do to everyone she cared about! James, Winn, J'onn, Cat, Mon-El, hell even mean old Snapper!

It would end here. It would end with her.

Kara stood up then, finding the strength somehow to take a step forward. Immediately the pain tripled, but rather than scream Kara let that feeling of terror and agony propel her forward another step. Then another. Then another. She was sure her eyes would explode and her heart would fall into her gut but Kara kept pushing forward until she could hear the Zoltam speaking again.

"Why do you do this? Your body should have disintegrated by now to its most basic subatomic components. How are you still moving? Stop!"

The only thing that mattered to Kara in that moment was that the robotic voice sounded closer than ever. Pushing through the feeling of shattering glass she felt around her eyelids, Kara opened her eyes to see the the dark pupil-less blue of the Zoltam's. She wasn't sure if she was close enough but she had to try, she knew she was a moment away from collapsing.

Eliza always joked she had long arms.

All of a sudden the pain stopped and Kara heard a crash. As she fell to her knees, Kara saw the Zoltam passed out in a pile of crumbling cement to the left of her, a huge divot in the wall behind him. Her brain had trouble registering what had happened as she focused on how blissful and amazing not-pain felt. Her skin still felt like it had chills all over her entire body, but the ceaseless pulling and breaking and stabbing that enveloped every part of her was a distant memory. Almost like a dream.

"Kara!"

She turned slightly to see Alex dropping her weapons to kneel beside her and hold her hair before giving Kara a hug. The hug felt good but also tingly and almost... distant. Like Alex was hugging Kara through a bunch of layers of really thick sweaters.

"I'm okay, I'm okay..." she mumbled, her voice sounding faint even though it didn't feel weak or anything.

"Oh my god Kara, all I could hear was screaming. You sounded like you were in so much pain." Alex was shaking, and tears were in her eyes but they hadn't quite fallen. Kara reached up to touch Alex's cheek but somehow when her fingers brushed against Alex's skin, she didn't feel anything.

Everything felt faint.

"I'm fine. Some sort of weapon, it caused me to... I don't know, shake. But like, all over. Sonic device maybe?" Kara looked around and saw that there was no damage to the ground or the walls or anything else in the room. She had assumed she was being blasted with the alien/sonic equivalent of a canon but the room looked untouched (barring the hole she herself had created in the ceiling). In fact, if Kara didn't know better, looking around she would have assumed that the Zoltam hadn't attacked her at all.

She stood up then as Alex started saying something but her voice sounded small and grainy, like it was coming from an old broken radio. Kara walked over to the device, having fallen on the ground where the Zoltam was previously standing, and picked it up. She could hold it in her hand but barely. She'd been right before, it was horn shaped, but it wasn't glowing blue anymore. Now it was yellow, like the rest of the Zoltam technology she'd destroyed earlier.

She was about to hold it up and make a little trumpet noise, just to be a little silly and reassure Alex that she was fine, when she noticed that the room was going in and out. Like static. Kara saw then that her sister was trying to grab her, was shouting at her, but Kara couldn't feel or hear any of it. It was all becoming hazy and distorted and blinking in and out of blackness.

Until it was all gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "WHERE'S OLIVER!?" Don't worry, this is all set up. There will be more.
> 
> Leave a comment and/or a kudos! Tell me what you think! Your support feeds my ego and your crticisms feed my obsessive perfectionism. Give me a chance to defend my characterizations, you know haha. And of course, support Arrow and Supergirl. Aw hell, also support The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, they're all pretty great shows.


	2. Chapter 2 - Staying or Passing Through?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Supergirl escapes one hot situation and falls right into another. Anyone up for a team-up?

"Huh, so this is new."

Kara was floating, and not in her usual Kryptonian way, but in some sort of blue... space. She could hear a hundred voices and saw flashes of people, places, birthdays, funerals, weddings, murders, days, weeks, months, years, yet she couldn't see anything either. Just a swirling maelstrom of glowing blue that lifted her up but also held her in place. She was able to think and see and hear but she couldn't move at all. She tried to walk, to fly, even move her arms, but nothing would do it. She was just stuck.

"Well... at least the weapon is stopped," Kara sighed. She closed her fingers around the strange horn that the Zoltam had been using, glad that she had managed to grab it before swatting the alien away. "Alright, this thing brought me here, maybe it can get me out."

Though she couldn't move her body in any direction, she managed to lift her hand up to look at the device. It was still yellow in color, all dull metallic shine and seamless sides. She tried to find a button or switch or anything to activate it, but other than the one end that looked like a mouthpiece and the other wider end, she couldn't begin to guess how it worked.

"Alright, so which is the riskier option?" She asked herself. "Do I try to sound this thing myself or do I destroy it?"

Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, Kara made her decision. She lifted the horn up to her mouth and pressed her lips to the mouthpiece. Kara thought of Alex then, and what she would say about the situation, to try and reassure herself, but somehow that only made her panic more. Kara knew, in a darker and more pessimistic part of her brain, that if she didn't find a way out of here soon she might be in real trouble. This strange place was some sort of scientific phenomena way outside her abilities or even her basic understanding. Either this worked... or Kara would have to face the possibility that she was stuck here.

"And a one, and a two, and a..." Kara took a breath.

The alien horn didn't give off any noise but immediately she felt it happen. A sudden force, like a crashing wave in the ocean, overtook her and threw her out into the blue everything that was all around her. She was hurtling, barely able to keep track of up or down or anything familiar. She just kept flying and flying and flying-

-and she could hear wind and smell grass and feel the sun on her face. For a split second she was filled with a gushing relief that bubbled up from her stomach. She was back in the world rather than that strange place! Her joy was short-lived though as she realized that she couldn't fly. She couldn't fly and she was still falling.

"Oh n-" was all she managed to say before she careened into the earth with a loud BOOM, causing the ground to swallow her whole, dirt and mud filling her mouth. He whole body shook and her back ached, and she was pretty sure she felt a weird snap in her leg, but as soon as the pain started feeling unbearable, she could feel it slowly starting to ebb away. Kara instinctively started to fly and she felt her body give a jerk. She moved her arm a few inches but it was caught in a slide of mud. After a second push she freed it and was able to brush some of the muck out of her mouth and nose. Her leg still hurt but her backaches and her burning lungs started feeling better.

She gave flying another try and this time she got it under control. Aiming only for up, Kara felt dust and dirt give way to grass and then air and then sunlight. She spit and coughed and brushed her eyes and hair with her fingers until she got a better look around.

"WELCOME TO CENTRAL CITY!" A big wooden sign announced, a second, smaller line below it. A couple dozen feet away, Kara saw the giant crater that she must have caused and slowly things started to click together for her.

"I'm- I'm on another Earth... Barry's Earth..." She whispered before gagging a bit on a piece of limestone lodged in the back of her teeth.

At first Kara panicked, thinking about the idea that she had accidentally traveled to a whole different universe, but then her worries ebbed. She had friends on this Earth. She had resources. She even had a transport device that she used to travel from her Earth to this one.

Kara reached into the lined pocket of her skirt ("pockets in skirts and dresses are a 21st century godsend" she'd explained to Alex a hundred times) and pulled out the Interdimensional Extrapolator that Cisco had given her a few months ago. Immediately she knew something was wrong when the wing of the device in between her fingers snapped and the rest of it started falling to the ground. Kara quickly flew down to catch it and managed to snag it in midair before landing on the ground.

"AGH! What the-?" Kara flinched and lifted her left leg into the air again as sprinkles of pain shot through it. The pain felt incredibly sharp and sudden but now as she floated in the air, she could feel the harsh screaming agony reduce to a dull achy hum. She used her x-ray vision on the leg and saw that one of the bones was broken. Which was new.

"I- a broken leg? I've never... I've never had one of those..." She muttered before she looked at the Extrapolator again. Not only had it broken in her hands, she saw now that the center gem... thing... was no longer glowing blue. She pressed it to see if it would activate a breach home for her, but nothing happened. She pressed it again and it gave off a shock that she barely felt thanks to her invulnerability. Fully returned.

"Okay great..." She moaned. "So my ride home is broken, I'm covered in mud, my leg is broken for the first time, ever, and... and I have to pee."

Kara looked up at the sign again and read the second line carefully, "HOME OF THE FLASH MUSEUM!" and felt herself smile.

"Well, at least I know someone's couch I can crash on."

***

A few hours later Kara was rubbing a soft and fluffy white towel over hair, pulling it over her left shoulder as she tried to work through the strands and not end up with too tangled of a mess on her head. The dark-blue S.T.A.R. Labs sweater she was wearing was too big and itchy, and the grey sweatpants had no drawstring, forcing her to roll up and fold the waistline several times to make it fit around her hips. And yet the shoes they'd given her were somehow too small! With all of this going on, Kara was glad to at least have shampooed, manageable, non-muddy hair.

"Alright, your Extrapolator is back online and redirecting power normally, you're all set to head on home. Right now even."

Cisco lifted the large, magnifying goggles up over his brow, and held Kara's way home up in the air. His other hand was occupied with some Red Vines that he pulled from a fanny pack around his waist. It was a shockingly bright blue color that matched terribly with his orange under armor shirt and neon pink track pants. A discarded pair of old fashioned red and blue 3-D glasses were by his equipment until Cisco picked them up and put them over his face, his magnifying goggles still on his head.

"You can go to your Earth now and Caitlin and I can get back to our previous engagement," Cisco continued, his tone sounding a bit frosty in Kara's opinion.

"Hold on Cisco, I'd like Kara to stay here for at least a few more hours, to make sure that the break in her leg is setting right," Caitlin explained, holding up a smartpad that showed an MRI scan recording of Kara's previously broken leg as it healed, was rebroken, then healed again. "We still don't know how her physiology will respond to this treatment that we basically invented now."

"Caitlin, I'm fine!" Kara said with a laugh.

"She's fine!" Cisco said at the same time with an audible groan.

Kara rolled her eyes a bit without looking at Cisco but continued before he said anything else. 

"Caitlin, your idea about the red sunlight lamp worked perfectly, and now my leg is set back along the break and is healing fine. You yourself said I heal almost as fast as Barry! You're a good doctor and you did a good job."

Caitlin smiled at Kara's words, adjusting the bracelets on her wrists. The last time Kara had met Caitlin and the S.T.A.R. Labs team, Dr. Snow had explained to Kara that she had powers, was a metahuman, but could not use her powers without risking going out of control. She wore two black wristbands, one on each hand, that slowly repressed her metagene but today she also wore gold, pink, and yellow plastic bracelets that jingled and clacked together when she fidgeted. Underneath her doctor's coat was a bright pink mesh top over a tight, dark workout suit that went down over her arms, chest, and legs, rounded out by bright blue sneakers and neon yellow socks.

"See there? Kara knows her body better than us, so let's leave it. Come on, at this rate by the time we get there it'll be a 90s themed dance party," Cisco bemoaned as he stood and tossed the Extrapolator to Kara.

"Alright fine, I get the hint. I know when I'm being the wet blanket," Caitlin said with a sigh. She put the pad down and picked up an elastic hair tie as she gathered up her dark brown hair, with light blonde highlights, into a side ponytail before tying it off. The look was completed when Caitlin put a white sweatband on her forehead. "It was nice to see you Kara, come back again soon. We'll catch up over coffee or lunch. Oh, do they have Hush Fish Mart on your Earth?"

"No, I would love to check it out! Though National City is all about its fish markets, so I must warn you that I have high tastes."

"I'm leaving!" Cisco announced as he headed to the hallway, his white and black striped sneakers blinking blue and purple lights with every step.

"Tell Barry I said hi," Kara laughed as she activated the Extrapolator. A small breach was opened in the room and she stepped toward it to go back to her Earth.

"Will do!" Caitlin waved before she turned to follow Cisco.

Kara got one foot through the portal and immediately she knew something was wrong. Her leg, the one that hadn't been broken two hours ago, was struck by a sudden and violent pain. That was followed by a burst of even more pain when Kara felt herself shoot through the air like a bullet. She only stopped when her back crashed and folded into one of the walls of the lab. Kara looked up and saw herself twenty feet away from where she'd been standing, broken cement and glass all around her.

"Kara! Kara! Are you okay!?" Cisco gripped her arm and tried to pull her to her feet, but Kara could feel she was pretty stuck in the wall. She focused through the shock before pushing herself up and flying out of the wall. She floated up and turned to see that the wall now had a huge, human-sized hole in it, and Kara had crashed into one of the glass marker boards along the way. A large overhead light was hanging off of its wiring above the crater.

"I'm fine, thanks," Kara mumbled as she floated down to stand by Cisco, Caitlin rushing up with a hand-held MRI machine on her other side. "And nothing is broken. I barely felt that through my invulnerability. It just threw me off is all."

"What happened?" Cisco asked. "I got a sudden bad vibe for a second and then you decided to go MMA on our wall."

"No, something is wrong with the Extrapolator. The breach wouldn't let me through, it's like it... bounced me out..." Kara explained, thinking through the experience as she reflected on it. "It felt like... like what the Zoltam weapon did to me. Like my body just wanted to split apart into a million pieces, and then I was just thrown back."

"That doesn't sound like the Extrapolator, that sounds like something else," Caitlin said with a frown as she looked down at the data readout from the MRI. "And I'm seeing some weird disturbance in these scans that wasn't visible before. It shrinks as I scan it, but it's there."

"Also, the Extrapolator has a specs system that upkeeps itself. It's running exactly the same way as it was before," Cisco explained as he looked at some data on his computer. "Nothing has changed and yet somehow... I felt the breach for a second. Like whatever it did, it reverberated further than just that one breach, it went through the whole Multiverse."

"Cisco, your words are frightening to me," Kara said with a frown.

"We have to do more tests," Caitlin announced as she frowned at Cisco and reached up to let her sidepony down.

"Alright, I guess we're in for the night," Cisco sighed before he took his 3-D glasses off. "I'll start up the Espresso Machine."

Kara was frustrated but nodded. She felt like she was so close to being home, could almost see it when she approached the breach, and then this happened out of nowhere. It wasn't fair! But she knew griping or getting mad wouldn't help anything. She sat down in one of the beds in the medical bay while Cisco and Caitlin spoke in high-science terms for a few minutes, finishing each others' sentences before Caitlin asked Kara to give them a minute. Kara took her damp hair in her hands and started twisting it into a bun that would rest on top of her head.

After a couple of hours of tests, scans, hair and saliva samples, Cisco seemed to figure out the issue.

"Whatever this alien horn did to you, your atomic makeup is now vibrating at the wrong frequency," he explained while showing a microscopic simulation of some of Kara's cells as compared to a control sample. The control sample was moving and vibrating around in a set pattern while Kara's looked more erratic.

"And this is why I can't go through the breach?" Kara asked with a sigh.

"Not necessarily," Caitlin continued, pointing to a simulation of Kara's body surrounded by a strange forcefield. "You see, it makes sense that you would vibrate at a different frequency than us. After all, you're from another Earth that operates at another vibrational frequency. The bigger problem is that your frequency has been, shall we say, startled?"

"Your frequency keeps shifting, and your body keeps trying to correct it, but it can't quite do it," Cisco explained further.

"Wait, how is my body trying to correct itself? Like I'm trying to heal?"

"No, it's not that simple," Caitlin sighed as she pulled her white headband off after hours of keeping it on. "You see, your invulnerability, and I would theorize your other powers as well, comes from a force that constantly surrounds your body, almost like a tactile telekinesis. That force is trying to protect you, shifting and changing to try and re-sync your body's vibrational frequency, and like an over active immune system, it's overreacting to any outside stimulae that might interfere with its efforts to correct the problem."

"Here, let me simplify," Cisco walked over to Kara and placed his hand over her arm. "The Multiverse, unlike the universe, all occupies the same space. Earths 1-52 are all in the same specific location in the galaxy, just on top of each other, like pancakes."

"I love pancakes, keep talking," Kara chuckled softly as she tried to focus on Cisco's explanation.

"To slip between earths, to visit us, you need to very briefly stop your body's atomic vibrations. That's what Barry does with his super speed, he moves so fast that his atoms basically become 'loose' for a second, as if his atomic structure had no vibrations anymore, allowing him to slip between Earths. I do the opposite, I make a specific area stop vibrating for second, creating a hole of "stillness" essentially. You slip through that hole to get home."

"Except when you go through such a hole, a breach, your body needs to stop vibrating for a split second," Caitlin continued, figeting with her bracelets. "Normally that's fine, but this telekinetic field you have around you thinks it's being attacked before you finish "healing" and lashes out. Spectacularly."

Kara nodded along to Caitlin's words, mulling everything over before she spoke. "Okay, so what you're saying is... my powers come from this telekinetic field, and that's what's keeping me from going home, right?"

"Essentially," Cisco shrugged.

"Perfect, then expose me to that red sunlight lamp thing again, temporarily take away my powers, and then I can go home."

"It's not that simple," Cisco shook his head. "You would get through the breach, but the moment your powers came back, there's no telling what they might do. Faced with yet another vibrational adjustment, it might overreact again in a way that would be... ummm... Caitlin?"

Caitlin gave Kara a sympathetic look before continuing. "Your powers might attack your own body and kill you."

"Oh."

Kara sat on that information for a few beats as Cisco and Caitlin tried not to look directly at her. She appreciated that they were trying to be sensitive but Kara only needed a moment before she nodded. She had faced trouble before, she would face it again.

"Alright, then it seems like what we need to do is fix this problem with my, um, vibrational frequency. It needs to be set back to... whatever frequency my Earth normally, um, vibrates."

"Right, Earth-38," Cisco said before tapping on his keyboard a bit. "I have it here, lower frequency than our earth but higher than HR's Earth. We get you back on this frequency, you'll be right as alien rain."

"The problem is, we don't know how to restore you to that frequency. I've never even heard of someone's frequency being changed," Caitlin frowned before giving Kara a placating, awkward smile. "Do you think we could take a look at that alien device that you were attacked by?"

Kara nodded at Caitlin's question before walking over to her super suit. Thankfully Cisco had all the necessary supplies to clean it, as the material was not far off from the friction suit that Barry used. She pulled the skirt up to check the pockets but came up empty. She unfolded the cape and shook out the suit, hoping that the alien device would fall out, but nothing was there except a sheet of used fabric softener.

"I thought... I had it when I was in that blue place-"

"Multiversal nexus," Cisco interrupted.

"-but now I can't find it. Did you guys move it anywhere when you washed my suit?"

"I didn't," Caitlin answered before turning to Cisco who shook his head.

"Oh no..." Kara whispered, unable to stop herself as she pressed her hand over her eyes in embarrassment. "I must have dropped it. I don't know where it is. Do you need it to fix me?"

Caitlin and Cisco exchanged a look and a few facial expressions before Caitlin finally gave Kara pitying look. "Maybe. We might be able to find a way to correct your body's frequency without it, but honestly we've never considered such a thing before. It's completely unexplored science. We've done a little studying into the multiverse ever since last year when we faced Zoom and Cisco started developing his powers... but not to this extent."

"Knowing what broke you would make fixing you a hundred times quicker," Cisco elaborated.

"Alright then..." Kara tried to focus on the next idea rather than letting this small defeat get her down. "If that device is still in the- um, nexus, then there's no way we can find it, right? So let's assume it came to this Earth with me. Would there be a way to track it?"

Cisco perked up at that. "Maybe... we noticed last year that people from Earth-2 vibrate at a higher frequency than us, causing disruptions to radio waves and interfering with cell phone equipment. I bet if you..." He started to type at his computer before suddenly jumping up in his seat. "Excelsior! You vibrate slightly higher than us too! Assuming that thing is the same frequency.... if we can manage to locate a cell tower deadzone, we might get a general idea of where the device is."

"Perfect!" Kara gave a breath of relief before moving over to Cisco and looking over his shoulder at the computer. "By the way, why is my Earth numbered 38? Why can't we be Earth-3? Or even Earth-1?"

"Sorry, our list so our Earth is the OG. And we already met another earth before you, so they're Earth-2. After that, it was just about the order we discovered them when Harry and I mapped the multiverse looking for his replacement. If you mad, blame Barry. He should'a told us about you before the Dominators. Your Earth could be 7 or 8 right now if I'd known about you sooner."

"I'll lodge my complaint in person. Where is Barry anyway?"

"Off-Earth," Caitlin explained as she finished slipping off the last of her plastic bracelets. "A friend of ours from Earth-3, Jay Garrick, asked for Barry's help with something. We gave Barry a multiversal communicator like we gave you but he hasn't answered. I'd guess he's in the middle of something."

"Oh wow, you guys deal with this multiverse stuff a lot?"

"You think this is weird, wait until you hear more about Flashpoint," Cisco chuckled.

"That's the thing Barry did, right? No one explained what-"

"Got it!" Cisco interrupted. "Alright, mostly got it, like generally got it, C+ work. The alien device is on our Earth. I have a path of cell tower deadzones moving from the outskirts of Central City going south and then west. Kara, it must have fallen close to where you did."

"And then it grew legs and started moving?" Caitlin asked.

"Well no, it's like, a thing right? Someone must have picked it up and took it home with them. It probably fell into a crater like Kara did, then someone probably found it and thought they were picking up a cool meteor rock or something."

"Just tell me you can pinpoint the location Cisco," Kara hoped her voice didn't sound as desperate as she felt.

"Umm... well... I can pin it down to a few states at least..." Cisco avoided Kara's eyes as he continued typing at his computer. "Unfortunately we don't have a lot of data to work with here."

Kara took the opportunity to sit down next to Cisco as she buried her face in her hands. A few hours ago she thought her worst problem was having earthworm chunks stuck to her hair and now it was sounding more and more like she was going to be stuck on this Earth, far away from home, for the foreseeable future. She wondered on her friends, on her sister, wondering if they understood where she had gone. Maybe they were working on a solution from their end to bring her home. After all, Winn was smart too. When she showed him her Extrapolator after returning from the whole Dominators invasion, he remarked on how revolutionary and amazing the device was but also seemed to have an understanding of its mechanics in a way that she didn't. It was possible he was helping the DEO make a breach right now to get to her.

Which of course didn't solve the real problem. Kara was stuck here, something was broken with her "frequency" and until that was fixed, even if Alex and everyone found her, they wouldn't be able to bring her home. She wished Barry was here to help, to at least have a familiar face to comfort her but she knew that wasn't productive thinking. Kara wasn't a person to wait around if she could help it. She preferred to be active.

"Alright, we need to follow this thing's most recent blackout and find the person who took that horn."

Kara had hoped that her declaration would receive cheers or at least nods of encouragement from Cisco and Caitlin but instead they sort of looked at each other again in silent communication.

"Umm... well... the thing is, we kinda have plans already?" Cisco mumbled slowly.

"What Cisco means... is that we have this whole situation with a bad guy named Savitar, and Barry asked us to look into a few things while he helped Jay. And also, well... selfishly I guess, I do have plans with my mother tomorrow."

"Mine too," Cisco continued, emboldened by Caitlin. "My mom I mean, I need to visit her. I haven't seen her in a while and it's been tough since my brother Dante died..."

"Of course," Kara sighed. She understood that they couldn't just drop their lives to help her but she still felt a bit stricken. Once again she felt the enormity of being stranded on this Earth where no one knew her.

"We can provide you with anything you need, including a place to stay," Caitlin said.

"Besides, you don't want our help. We're scientists. When you lose something, you want a detective," Cisco half-joked.

Kara thought on Cisco's words and was reminded of someone then. Someone else that she knew on this Earth besides Barry. But could he help? Would he?

"Where is Star City?"

***

"Wild Dog, in position?"

"Roger that."

"Mr. Terrific, in position?"

"Positive. I mean affirmative. Roger, yes Green Arrow."

"Alright, I'll make an opening, you two remember the plan and stick to the timetable."

Oliver notched a grapple arrow to his bow and fired before jumping down through the glass skylight. He braced his legs, stretching them out at the moment of contact to spread the force through his body as he free-fell to the ground. Halfway down, the grapple arrow caught and his belt yanked up as the bungee cord slowed his descent, allowing Oliver enough time to notch and fire two shots. One arrow went through a gunmen's shoulder, causing him to drop his gun and then pass out from the pain. The second shot missed the lookout, but once it was stuck in the wall next to his ear, the arrow's shaft opened and shot pepper spray in all directions, causing the lookout and the two men covering him to become incapacitated. The skylight was clear.

By the time Oliver's feet hit the ground, he was notching another arrow aimed prominently at his target.

"Mark Desmond, you have failed this city."

"Huh, I thought the Arrow was all about that. Didn't know you were a thief GA, stealing other people's gimmick."

Mark Desmond had stringy, oily brown hair that he pulled back into a ponytail and dead brown eyes to match. Though once a brilliant chemist, he now dressed like every other thug or madman who tried to take control of Star City's underground criminal rings. Leather with dark clothes covered by leather. He moved without fear, smiling at Green Arrow without even removing his hands from his pockets. At that moment, two men appeared at either side of him, one armed with an AK-47 and the other with an M-20 .50 caliber sniper rifle.

"Make sure this thief dies quickly," Desmond ordered. Oliver took his shot and fled as he heard the gunshots ringing behind him, the AK-47 going off burst after burst. The M-20 was silent, which told Oliver that he hadn't missed.

"Man, this is straight up amateur hour here," Wild Dog said over the comlink. Oliver made it to cover behind a load-bearing column before glancing up, seeing that the gunman with the AK-47 was now picking up the M-20 his friend had dropped, trying to wield both guns in each hand. His friend was still conscious but tied up by Oliver's earlier bolo arrow.

"He understands what will happen when he fires both guns, right?" Wild Dog asked with a chuckle.

"Ignore him, he's mine along with the others, you focus on tracking Desmond."

Oliver waited for the gunman to start firing, and immediately the AK-47 in his right arm jumped, the shots forcing the gun barrel up into the ceiling, while the M-20 pushed his left shoulder back a foot, the kickback being more than he was ready for. Oliver came out then, firing an arrow that went through the man's left hand. The sudden pain caused him to drop both guns and scream at his wound.

He was down but not out, so Oliver ran forward as more men came pouring out of adjoining rooms and started taking shots. Oliver managed to hop onto the platform and give the screaming gunman a boot to the face before he tossed out a flechette at the closest man behind him. It struck the man's leg mid-sprint, causing him to trip and fall and then trip a couple of men behind him. That left three more men that Oliver needed to deal with. He managed to fire off one arrow before they approached, forcing him to go hand-to-hand.

These guys were tough enough, clearly trained on the streets, but Oliver made short work of them. After kicking one in the stomach, making him double over, Oliver leapfrogged over his bent form to wrap his legs around the second one's neck and flip him onto the ground. The flipped man fell unconscious from the fall while Oliver elbowed the man he had jumped over in the neck, knocking him unconscious as well. Two of the men who tripped earlier started to approach but Oliver shot an explosive arrow into the ground in front of them and it exploded, knocking them unconscious.

"Overwatch, I took out the security, let me know if there are any stragglers."

"Heat signatures show that's the last of them. Only one left is Desmond himself," Felicity reported before switching to a more playful tone. "Are we sure Rene can handle this?"

"Rene said he was tired of working back up, let's see how he likes taking point."

"A trial by fire. Or in this case, a trial by metahuman I suppose," Curtis rambled.

"Well hold on, Desmond is altering his physiology through biochemistry, not genetic alteration, so does that technically make him a metahuman? I mean, his genetic structure is still human, he needs his formula for his powers to work," Felicity responded.

"Now that is an interesting question, cause that opens a whole realm of questions as to when a person is considered a modified human or simply using a tool. Like Cisco requires a device to access certain parts of his powers, and Oliver has tattoos that protect him from magic, but is that reflective of their individual powers or could it be possible to replicate-"

"Overwatch, Mr. Terrific, please keep the comlink clear. Do we have a location on Wild Dog?" Oliver had finished tying up the last of the bad guys while Curtis rambled, and had managed to locate the petty cash and drugs for police to gather when they arrived. An hour from now, as ordered by the Mayor.

"Oh! Wild Dog is on the move. Really moving. Oh no Oliver-" He heard it before Felicity could say it. Two double doors that led to a loading dock burst forward as a body flew through right at Oliver. He managed to duck, roll forward, then turn around and notch an arrow while Rene continued flying through the air. He fired his emergency parachute escape arrow at the wall and canvas cloth exploded from the spot, creating a cushion for Rene so he didn't shatter every bone against the wall. A few spine-chilling seconds later, Rene started falling and was caught up in the parachute straps and wires, hanging from the wall where the parachute was pinned by its arrow.

"Wild Dog, what happened?" Oliver asked as he started trying to cut Rene down.

"I tried to take him before he injected himself with that crap. I rushed him, it was dumb," Rene groaned as he fell to the ground, holding his back as Oliver cut the last of the straps off of him. "But boss, you gotta know, he didn't take the formula. I was watching. He changed without it."

"Okay, so maybe now he would be classified as a metahuman?" Curtis asked over the comlink.

"That's right, I moved beyond my serum," A voice that sounded like a mix between a lion and a jet engine growled. Oliver turned from Rene and immediately fired two arrows at once.

The giant, 12-foot mass of muscle and hardened external bones caught one arrow but the second lodged in his arm. "Mark Desmond is no more. I have evolved. Now _**I am Blockbuster!**_ " 

The creature dropped the arrow he was holding and reached over to pull the second one out, not even flinching as he tossed it aside. Oliver had seen the destruction Desmond wrought when he was first testing the formula, but seeing it in person was startling. The Blockbuster formula didn't just make Desmond as strong as a Mirakuru soldier, it transformed his whole body, making him massive in size and bulging with grotesque looking muscles and matching, elongated limbs. He was monster in form as well as soul now.

"I don't care what you call yourself. Your time is over," Oliver growled, notching an explosive arrow at the ready.

"My time is just beginning!" The creature chuckled. "Star City's crime families are scared of you, staying low, but they're still out there. They just need a strong leader to bring them all together. And no one is stronger than Blockbuster."

"For real? No one has ever thought of that plan before. You really are some kinda genius," Rene joked as he stood up, loading his dual handguns to cover up a slight limp. "Why didn't the Count or Danny Brickwell or Tobias Church ever think of that plan?"

"You're not strong," Oliver continued, trying to bait Blockbuster. "You're just a drug addict with a special kind of addiction."

"I AM STRONG!" The creature shouted so loud, Oliver felt it in his teeth. "BLOCKBUSTER IS THE STRONGEST!"

The creature that once was Mark Desmond began rushing toward them, each step sounding like a shotgun blast, swinging his bear-sized arms wildly in every direction. Oliver nodded to Rene who started strafing right while firing, each shot hitting Desmond and seeming to pierce his skin but not slowing him down at all. Oliver Took aim for between the eyes and fired, the explosive arrow managing to hit and explode right in the center of Blockbuster's face. Unfortunately the gunshot steps didn't slow down and soon the creature was rushing past the smoke of the explosive, his eyes watering but otherwise unharmed.

Oliver switched the bow from his left hand to his right and braced for impact.

There was a loud crack and then a sudden boom, louder than Oliver expected, and the shockwave sent him back a few steps and onto one knee. At first Oliver was confused as to what happened, seeing as Blockbuster hadn't even touched him, but when the smoke cleared he received his answer.

In the form of a red miniskirt.

"Hey guys, how are you?" Supergirl asked, grunting slightly as she managed to hold each of Blockbuster's fists in her dainty, well-manicured hands. Blockbuster was clearly confused and started to push, moving his shoulders up to try and push Supergirl into the ground but she barely budged an inch. "And who is your new friend? You have to introduce us."

"What's going on in there? I see a new heat signature but it's weird," Felicity chirped with an edge of panic in her voice. "Green Arrow, report, what is going on?"

"Supergirl is here," Oliver grumbled, then he grumbled more when he heard Curtis and Felicity titter excitedly at the news.

"I am Blockbuster! The strongest in the world! No man can beat me!" Despite his words, Blockbuster was clearly straining to push Kara out of the way and having real difficulty, his face turning even redder than it was before.

"Well, I am no man," Kara said with a little smile before she suddenly pulled back, throwing Blockbuster off balance while she jumped (or flew?) up and kicked him in the face. Kara made it look like a ballet kick but Blockbuster went reeling back, blood spurting out of his nose as he screamed.

"Oh my god, she just made a Lord of the Rings reference before beating this guy down. If I were straight, I would be absolutely drooling over this girl," Curtis joked over the comlink. 

"I am currently drooling and I'm as straight as they come," Felicity laughed. "Wait, unless this means I'm bi? Well, I did have a phase in college, but that's normal right? Can you be bi if it's only for one specific person? The fluidity of sexuality is still being researched-"

"Overwatch, Mr. Terrific, stay focused. Wild Dog, use the opening Supergirl has created to hit Blockbuster from behind and draw him back. I'll try to flank him."

"By the way, should I stay in position? This seems decided," Curtis asked.

"Yeah, the cheerleader of steel seems to be handling it," Rene agreed.

In fact, Kara had been punching and elbow-hammering Blockbuster the entire time they were talking, clearly dominating the 12-foot brute. Not only was she stronger than him, she was faster and more agile. Soon Blockbuster was tiring out and Supergirl flew back before flying forward at a speed that Oliver could barely track and pounded Blockbuster with both fists so hard that Oliver heard a loud crunch. After that, Blockbuster screamed before passing out, crashing to the floor with an echoing thud. Oliver watched carefully to make sure he stayed down.

"Phew, well that was exhilarating," Supergirl said with a little chuckle before turning to face him. "Oliver, I was about to head to your office when I picked up your voice with my super hearing. Lucky, huh?"

"Lucky?!" Oliver snapped. "We had the situation handled."

"Really?" Kara frowned a little before she stood on one foot, sweeping the other back so she could turn and look at Blockbuster. "Cause it seems to me that this guy was about to trample you to death and I saved your life. A little thank you would go a long way Oliver."

"Stop calling me that in public, Blockbuster's men are tied up right over there!"

"Oh, sorry about that," Kara did manage to look mildly embarrassed, blushing a shade of red that almost matched her lipstick. "Still, I think you're being a little testy. I came in and saved you-"

"No one asked you to do that. I had it handled," Oliver repeated, still eyeing Blockbuster. "I'd already decided that I would be bait while Rene and Curtis worked Blockbuster into a more favorable position. Your bursting in here just caused unnecessary damage and risk to civilian safety."

"What? How so?" Kara looked around then at the hole she'd made in the wall, crumbling brick and mortar... right next to some tied up hostages who were now covered in debris and dust. "Oh... I must have missed them... I didn't know..."

"No, you didn't. You heard my voice you said? Did you also x-ray the building? Did you try and contact Felicity? Me? No, you went into a situation blind, assured that you would be able to handle it, and in the process put civilians and possibly my team at risk. You were uninformed, unprepared, and unready. The only thing that saved you from things escalating was dumb luck."

Oliver remembered giving Barry a similar lecture a couple of years ago. It had stuck. Since then Barry had taken the lesson to heart and been more careful, but looking at Kara now Oliver knew his words wouldn't have the same effect on her. Kara scrunched up her face and sort of... squeaked as she blew air out of her mouth for a second before she stepped forward, finger pointed.

"You know what Oliver? I really don't appreciate-"

"Move!" Oliver shouted, sensing movement behind Supergirl.

Blockbuster stood up then, grunting and bloody but conscious. Kara turned but too slowly as Blockbuster smacked her aside, sending her hurtling twenty feet into the air, crashing through the skylight Oliver jumped through earlier. Grunting more and even drooling blood, Blockbuster picked up a giant piece of broken cement and threw it with a stumbling toss. It flew by so fast, Oliver barely managed to roll of of the way. He could hear it whistling past before he notched and loosed three arrows at once, all three hitting. One even caught in Blockbuster's throat causing him to scream and become distracted.

"Terrific, Wild Dog, did you stay in position like I asked?" He asked as calmly as he could. Really.

"Back in position now," Rene reported.

"In position GA," Curtis echoed.

"Good," Oliver responded before throwing a flashbang flechette that went off in Blockbuster's face. He screamed and started stomping after Oliver before stumbling as two shots from Rene hit his temple. The former man, now monster, turned then to Rene, running forward as Rene fired off more shots.

Right as Blockbuster was about to reach Rene, Supergirl flew back in, but rather than try and fight Blockbuster again, she gripped Rene by the arm and flew out of the way. The monster looked up at her as she tossed Rene up to Curtis, still hanging in the rafters as they'd planned earlier, who caught Rene and helped him hold onto the mountain climbing equipment Curtis had dug into the wall earlier. Curtis then jumped down, and was caught by Supergirl who swung him once, twice, then three times before throwing him down at Blockbuster. Curtis screamed the whole way but managed to remember his training as he kicked Blockbuster in the jaw before flipping forward and attaching one of his T-spheres to the back of the creature's bulbous head.

Oliver helped catch Curtis on his landing before giving him a nod, the signal that they would both activate their triggers at the same time. If one of them activated the trigger without the other, it wouldn't work due to fail-safes in the software.

Thankfully the timing worked out and all of a sudden, electromagnetic energy crackled around Blockbuster, the positive energy from the floor plate crawling up the monster's back to reach the negatively charged T-sphere attached to his head, filling Blockbuster with enough energy to blackout all the Starbucks everywhere, as Felicity put it earlier. The T-Sphere also pulled down on Blockbuster, trying to draw itself to the floor plate due to powerful magnetic force of attraction. As the behemoth crumpled to the ground, the continuous electricity through his system slowly started to ebb as he shrunk, the muscles and bone plates disappearing as Blockbuster turned back into Mark Desmond.

"You were right Overwatch, the electromagnetic discharge caused Blockbuster to revert back to his human... form," Oliver explained as he patted Curtis on the shoulder for a job well-done.

"Dude looks uglier like this if you ask me," Rene remarked as he rappelled down, taking off his hockey mask to spit out some blood.

"So, I'm guessing you spoke to Felicity?" Oliver asked as Kara walked by, fidgeting slightly with her hair as she looked at the unconscious and naked Mark Desmond. His clothes had ripped and stretched during his transformation, and now back in human form, what was left of his clothes simply fell off.

"Yeah, she contacted me on a communicator Cisco gave me and explained the plan. I just... tried to help after that."

Oliver could see that Kara was still angry from earlier but she was swallowing that anger to apologize and be friendly. Now that Blockbuster was down and nobody had been hurt, he was fine with giving her a little bit of slack. After all, she helped save the world not that long ago. She had even been kind to him, when he reacted to her presence on the team with less patience and empathy than needed.

More than anything though, it was just hard to stay mad at her.

"You did great, thank you Supergirl," Oliver held out his hand and Kara nodded, blushing again as she shook his hand. It was a different kind of flush in her face than before. Less embarrassment and more pride.

"Now, I'm guessing you didn't travel across the multiverse to fight Blockbuster. What can we do to help?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE'S OLIVER! HAPPY!? Haha, I know there wasn't a lot of chance for interaction between them, but I promise, the set up is basically complete. Next chapter we start getting into it.
> 
> Leave a comment and/or a kudos! Tell me what you think! Your support feeds my ego and your crticisms feed my obsessive perfectionism. Give me a chance to defend my characterizations, you know haha. And of course, support Arrow and Supergirl. Aw hell, also support The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, they're all pretty great shows.


	3. Chapter 3 - You Got My Back?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Arrow helps Supergirl track down the alien weapon. Kara and Oliver come to an understanding.

"Cisco put everything he could find on this flash drive."

"Perfect, Cisco always knows what I like. When it comes to evidence gathering, not anything else. I mean yeah other things, but not like, 'other things' like about my body. I mean, he has seen me in my underwear, but that was with Barry."

Felicity seemed ready to ramble for a few more minutes, and Kara didn't want to interrupt and be rude, but Oliver brushed past her then and placed a hand on Felicity's shoulder. It seemed like he was about to scold her or something but instead he just smiled a little bit and Felicity gave a breath of relief and a small nod. There was some sort of communication going on there that Kara couldn't quite pick up but she could tell it was more than just "team spirit."

"Right, I'll take a look at this and see what I can find," Felicity finished, swinging around and heading for the computer, or rather computers, plural.

The bunker, as Oliver called it, was impressive. The room had high, metallic ceilings and dark marble flooring, expensive stuff, as well as equipment in every direction. Arrows, guns, swords, computers, tactical gear, maps, medical equipment, even costumes in display cases. Kara quickly picked up on how expansive this operation was when she realized that there were even rooms off to the sides with beds in them. While Kara was used to having just her suit and her powers, she thought of the DEO's various offices. While the government agency clearly had more manpower and resources (and both bases Kara had seen were bigger than the Bunker), she had a feeling that this place actually had more equipment and tech, which was a little worrying. How did one man gather so many resources?

"Alright, while she's working on that..." Oliver placed his bow in some sort of display case before turning to the rest of the team. "Curtis, I want you to back up Felicity, but while she tries to track a lead on this alien device, you focus on the information Caitlin Snow gathered about Supergirl's physiology. We want to find this weapon and get it off the streets, but the priority should be helping Kara get better so she can go home."

"On it," Curtis nodded, taking off his jacket and mask before joining Felicity on the "computer platform" in the center of the room, as Kara now thought of it.

"Rene, you did good out there but I want you to take care of that leg. You're switching with Rory on Bunker duty."

"S'cool. Didn't feel much like dealing with aliens today," Rene gave Kara a nod before walking off, an automatic door sliding open for him to a separate room.

"Rory, it's a long shot but I want you on the street angle. Start looking for any police reports or news stories involving strange sightings or unexplained phenomena around the location where Kara crashed into our Earth."

"Strange sightings? Weird phenomena? Near Central City?" A pale, handsome man with combed brown hair stood up from his seat at a table next to the costume display cases, a large book open in front of him, before giving Oliver a nod. "I'm sure I'll find nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever."

"Thank you..." Oliver muttered with a little grump in his voice but a smile on his face. After that he turned to Kara and she involuntarily felt her back straighten up, like she was a soldier getting ready to receive orders.

"Kara, I promise you that we will figure this out. In the meantime, you can stay here and rest."

"Wait, what? You don't have any orders for me general?" Kara was surprised and strangely disappointed.

"No, we're alright. The bunker's free to you, I actually have a meeting in... oh, half an hour ago, so I have to leave but as soon as I'm done I'll come back and we'll assess and make a plan." Oliver removed some armored pieces from his costume, stepping toward a door that opened to an elevator. "I promise you that we will get you home."

"Oh, thanks," Kara didn't know what else to say, thrown off as she was to see Oliver leave the Bunker. It felt like her brain had spaced for a second and all of sudden she was alone in this strange, new place with a bunch of people that she didn't know very well.

"Um... did Oliver just ditch me?" Kara turned to the rest of the team.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no," Curtis immediately responded, leaning back from his computer that was across from Felicity. "He just assigned us all tasks to help you while he went to take care of some issues with his job and left you in our care and now as I'm saying it, yes it does appear that he might have abandoned you a bit."

"The boss has a lot on his plate right now," Rory, as he was apparently named, explained as he adjusted some sort of radio device that Kara realized was a police scanner. "Even before Blockbuster popped up, he was dealing with some sort of funding crisis for a teen center he's trying to build. He's also still researching evidence for Digg's upcoming trial and trying to get a bead on this guy named Prometheus."

"Wow, how does he manage all of that?"

"By shelving the grunt work on us of course," Rory explained, but the harsh words were tempered by the fact that he was smiling as he said it.

"I guess I should have figured Oliver would be busy... Digg's in prison?" Kara suddenly felt a small pang of guilt at coming here.

"He's innocent, it's a whole thing, we're working on it from every angle," Felicity interjected before she stepped away from her computer for a moment to place a hand on Kara's shoulder. Being this close, Kara realized then that Felicity was smaller and more petite than she remembered. She hadn't noticed before because Felicity tended to wear long, flattering dresses in trendy pastel colors with sky high heels that made her look more statuesque. The girl had style that Kara would have killed for.

"Listen to me, don't worry about it," Felicity continued, having somehow sensed Kara's earlier flash of guilt. "We are used to juggling multiple fires. When a friend is in need, we always have time."

Kara couldn't help but smile then, warmed that Felicity comforted her. Cisco and Caitlin had been very helpful and kind, but the whole time she'd been with them they acted like scientists, doctors, treating her like a problem that needed to be solved. For the first time in two days, Kara was being treated like a friend instead of a complication and it meant more than she could articulate. She nodded and reached up to touch Felicity's shoulder in return.

"Thank you," she said simply before being struck by a whim. "If I weren't straight, I would definitely drool over you too."

"Excuse me?" Rory squeaked from across the room while Curtis and Felicity simultaneously started freaking out.

"You could hear-"

"That was a joke-"

"-knew your hearing was enhanced-"

"-mouth just goes on and on without any thought-"

"-would love to know how far you can listen."

"-just pretend I never said that and I'll fall into a hole and die."

Kara just laughed and let the two of them sort out their awkwardness before walking over to the display cases. One rack was empty, she assumed Oliver's Green Arrow suit, but she saw the uniform for Spartan, Speedy, and even a spare Flash costume on the far right. The cases opened at her approach and lit up from lights filtered through the glass walls, giving them an ethereal, otherworldly sense. Kara thought of her super suit and how she usually just hung it in the back of her closet with her "Sexy Supreme Court Justice" Halloween costume and a prom dress she had worn junior year of high school.

There was also another costume, black leather with billy clubs and fingerless gloves, but she didn't recognize it. She walked over to Rory and found him still adjusting the police scanner with some difficulty. It seemed he was having trouble finding the feed for Central City rather than the local Star City police force.

"Hey, whose costume is that on the left?" she asked him.

"Oh, that one is for Black Canary, Laurel Lance," Rory explained carefully before sighing and then looking a little awkward. "She died last year. Murdered by Damien Darhk."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. I didn't even know her. I just know the stories, things that Felicity and Oliver talk about. People she saved, things she accomplished..." Rory stopped fiddling with the scanner for a moment then. "She was a part of the team. If even half of what Oliver has said about her is true, she was a real hero."

"I wish I could have met her," Kara sighed, giving a silent prayer to Rao that this Laurel found the light that would guide her to her final resting place. "What happened to the man who killed her, Damien Darhk?"

"Justice happened," Felicity's voice cut in from across the room. She sounded different than before. More sure. "After he killed Laurel, he went on a rampage. He killed Rory's entire home and wanted to do the same to Star City. Oliver stopped him."

Rory was closely focused on the police scanner now and Kara let him be, though she couldn't help but ask the burning question.

"You mean he killed him, right? Oliver killed this Darhk guy?"

"Absolutely."

Kara felt something like whiplash as she looked at Felicity. Not even ten minutes ago she had comforted Kara and made her feel safe for the first time since she realized she was trapped on this earth. Felicity was silly and awkward and clearly a primary factor in Oliver not going crazy after doing this for five years, and yet she spoke of murder like it was a foregone conclusion. Like it was a distasteful thing that had to be done. Like taxes.

"Well... we all make mistakes in our grief."

The room shifted immediately. While Curtis and Rory seemed to focus ten times harder on their tasks, actively ignoring Kara's words, she quickly figured out that they weren't trying to avoid her. They were trying to avoid the wrath that was Felicity Smoak.

"Killing Damien Darhk was not a mistake. He deserved to die. He murdered countless people, murdered our friend right in front of us for no other reason than to torture Oliver, and he was never... never going to stop," Felicity stood up and walked over to Kara then, this time not touching her at all yet nonetheless pressing an invisible weight upon her. "He would have kept killing people. He would have kept destroying lives and homes for no other reason than to fulfill the sad and empty hole he had inside himself. Killing him wasn't a mistake, it was one of the most heroic things Oliver has ever done."

Kara understood two things about Felicity then: For one, she was clearly more complicated than a computer geek with a penchant for oversharing. She had a deep, deep pragmatism about her, to the point of negotiating the cost of actual human lives. Kara was used to that sort of thing from the DEO, from government officials and politicians, even from Hank and Alex at times. Coming from Felicity though, she was caught off-guard. Barry had joked that she and Felicity could be sisters and Kara agreed with that now, but for completely different reasons than their looks.

The second thing was that Felicity Smoak was deeply, deeply in love with Oliver Queen.

"I'm sorry," she said simply, not because she felt she was wrong, but because she could tell it mattered so much to Felicity.

"It's alright. I'm just... I'm used to standing up for Oliver against critics and sometimes... I overreacted."

Felicity left it at that and Kara decided that she'd kicked her foot into her own mouth enough times today. Felicity and Curtis were working diligently, Rory finally found the Central City Police Department's radio frequency, and Kara saw Rene come back into the room in a tanktop and workout shorts before he went over to a punching bag next to the bow and arrow equipment. Everyone was keeping busy so she would do the same.

A couple of hours later Oliver came back, dressed in a full suit with a white button-down that had the top three buttons undone with a loosened tie. Somehow, even though he had been fighting a 12 foot tall metahuman earlier, Oliver looked more tired from his day job. Kara dropped her book and immediately moved toward Oliver, but other than giving her a nod he looked to his team first.

"What's our status?" 

Rene was working on a practice dummy with some sort of short, wooden stick while Felicity popped up first. "I matched all the satellite imaging I could find with CCTV and traffic cam footage from neighboring towns, cities, and rest stops, all along the path that Cisco predicted the device would have moved according to cell phone interference. So far, nothing came up."

"I've got zilch on Supergirl's physiology," Curtis went next, rubbing at his head as he looked at Oliver in apology. "From what I can tell, Cisco only loosely understood what is happening with Kara and I'm even looser than that. One idea I had was some sort of... sonic tuning fork to help direct her body back to regular frequency but that's still in theory. I can't even imagine the tools and resources I would need to engineer such a thing."

"I have two metahuman reports and one sighting of a bear-sized, no sorry, "bear-man" in a town called Zillowbrook?" Rory went next. "Thirty miles southwest of Central City and it falls on Cisco's map but it could also be-"

"A story from some town drunk, right," Oliver finished before sighing. "Alright, I managed to negotiate with the city council. Thanks to Thea, I've been approved for a week of vacation time, though I have to stay on call for emergencies."

Kara jumped on that. "Wait, you're... taking a vacation to help me? Aren't you the mayor?"

"I am," Oliver shrugged. "But I can already tell I'll need to give this my full attention."

He left it at that before walking over to Felicity, looking over a screen that had a topographical map of the area that Kara had crashed, mapped with possible routes and information. Kara felt a little stunned at Oliver's cavalier attitude toward his mayoral duites but also selfishly appreciated that someone on this Earth had finally gone out of their way to help her. Rory had told her earlier how swamped Oliver was with everything, but here he was, making helping her his number one priority.

"Okay, so Cisco's means of tracking this thing is based on cell phone tower interference, is it possible it moved to an area without cell phone towers?"

"No, not based on the route we managed to track. In every direction there are populated cities or towns. Unless it flew up into space, it stopped moving." Felicity suddenly turned to Kara in alarm. "Wait, this thing can't fly through space, can it?" 

"I honestly don't know. I know it hurts a lot if it's directed at you, but that's about it."

"The most likely explanation is that someone found it," Oliver interjected, cutting a disappointed Felicity off from that train of thought. "Someone who understands this weapon well enough to cover up our means of tracking it. I'm guessing doing such a thing would be complicated, technical, it would require resources. We need to start from scratch but instead of looking for an alien trail, we need to look for tech. Tech will lead us to parts, which will lead to serial numbers-"

"Right, of course," Felicity nodded and started typing, though Kara was still lost. "We might be able to start looking up names instead of looking in haystacks."

Rory walked over, looking equally confused as Felicity managed to pull up three different screens and work on all of them simultaneously. "Okay, we've got three known, possible ways of blacking out cell phone signals in a way that S.T.A.R Labs couldn't detect-"

"Make sure to cross-reference anything military first-"

"-done and done. Alright, listing all known parts and supply sources needed to build such devices annnnndddd... got it! I've got the list down to about seventy people who might have either bought or constructed such a device. Some military, some high-end tech developers, some contractors, even one marine biologist."

"We can narrow it more," Rory spoke up. "This person isn't just carrying the device on foot, they must have transport. If we go to the site of the crash, maybe we can pick up some sort of trail and at least identify the vehicle. Match records of that with Felicity's suspect list-"

"Good, good," Oliver nodded, patting Rory on the shoulder before turning to Curtis. "We'll need to go on site. Curtis, I want you in the field with me to be my eyes and ears on any sort of tech we run into. Rory, pack your rags but don't wear them out. We'll investigate this in civilian clothes. I can get access to a jet that will bring us there in a few hours."

"Or..." Kara tried not to smile too much as Team Arrow looked at her in confusion. "I could get us there right now?

***

Oliver shook his head again, trying to restore his sense of balance as Curtis hurled audibly into some bushes under the sign, "WELCOME TO CENTRAL CITY!" and Rory sat with his head between his knees next to the interstate. Even though he'd asked her to try and take it easy on them, Kara's flying was somehow more intense and more uncomfortable than when Barry carried them using his speed. Kara had gripped Curtis in one arm, rolling her eyes a bit at his worry that she wouldn't be able to carry him while he held their equipment, meanwhile she had held onto Oliver with the other arm, Oliver clasping Rory to his chest using a rock climbing hook and rope. The ride had been smooth for the most part but the wind resistance at times was worse than the storms on Lian Yu. Oliver shook his head for a third time to clear it.

"Sorry about that guys," Kara squinted in guilt, putting her hands up in a gesture of apology that was half-shrug and half-flinch.

"No, no, it's fine. We got it," Oliver argued before Curtis loudly vomited again.

"So glad to be on bunker duty," Rene said over the comlink.

"Come on you guys, there's no way that Supergirl's flying was worse than actual time travel. Which I did."

"As you like to remind us Felicity," Rory replied, seeming to have recomposed himself.

"Alright Supergirl, can you show us the crater where you crashed?" Oliver asked, smiling lightly to try and distract from his obvious discomfort.

The hole was big and obvious, much bigger than would have been expected for a girl Kara's size. She was small of stature, maybe only a little taller than Thea, with a figure that seemed more occasional runner than extreme athlete. Her arms had definition, likely from some sort of resistance training or perhaps a natural evolution of her super strength, but Kara was overall a smaller, more petite woman. It still caused Oliver a bit of dissonance to think about her wielding so much power when she looked like a young, unassuming blonde. The kind of girl he would have tried to get the attention of in his youth and then given up on a few minutes later. Her smile was infectious though.

Stepping into the crater, Oliver looked at the point of impact to see that the hole was deep, digging down for at least twenty feet. No doubt Kara had had to fly out. He looked around for any other signs of human movement, disturbance, something to start tracking but he was having no luck. Animals had been in the crater now, and at some point it seemed like it had rained, though lightly. A lot of evidence would have been disturbed.

Curtis scanned the area with some sort of device Felicity had given him while Rory explored around the crater, looking for tracks.

"Guys, I think I might have found something!" Supergirl announced. Oliver looked around for a moment, unable to locate her until he saw fluttering red and realized she was flying. Looking up, he could see Kara pointing east. "They look like tracks, definitely a car or something. Someone tried to clean them up but they missed some that were below a dike."

"Whoa! Language!" Curtis shouted.

"She means an outcropping of rocks, like a small cliff," Rory explained.

"Oh."

"Alright, you two stay here and keep working. I'm going to track this lead that Supergirl found." Oliver climbed out of the crater and started sprinting in the direction Kara pointed. He had a thought then. "Supergirl, stay up top until I get there, keep your eyes on the path to see if I pass anything important."

Soon Oliver saw what Kara was talking about. A single tire track, hidden by some hanging vines and branches growing from a jut of earth, shading it from vision. Oliver could see why this track would have been missed without the benefit of x-ray vision and knelt down to get a closer look. It looked large, heavy, definitely not something that would be seen in the city a lot.

"Can you tell what it is?" Supergirl was suddenly beside Oliver. He hadn't even heard her land.

"It strikes me as military. Sending an image to Felicity," Oliver explained, taking a picture with his phone.

"I've got it, processing," Felicity reported over the comlink. "Alright, its wheel bearing matches the RX-900, "Hard Terrain Assault Vehicle," which, I mean, could you overcompensate more with a name like that?"

"Any matches to your suspect list?" Kara asked, leaning into Oliver's space. She didn't have a comlink, their last spare had been broken by Rene a few days ago, but she could hear the feed with her super hearing. The plan was for her to communicate through the team but she must have forgotten as she practically spoke right into Oliver's neck. Up this close he could smell her hair, as well as a little scar on her forehead. It was such a delicate... human face.

"... negative," Felicity reported back. "Sorry Supergirl, this might be a dead-end. I'll keep looking."

Kara shook her head and left out a growl of frustration, reaching up to bite the fingernail on her thumb as she looked at the tread mark. Gone was the sad, nervous look she had when she came to the Bunker before. Now Oliver only saw determination. He reached up and gripped Kara by the bicep, surprised as he squeezed and just felt... softness.

"This was a good find Supegirl. We're probably just missing a piece. We'll get there."

Just like that, Kara's face shifted and she gave Oliver a nod, smiling with a look of absolute faith. He could tell from the way she carried her shoulders that she was still worried, yet somehow he had said exactly what she needed to hear. Confused but gladdened by that thought, Oliver stood up and instantly sensed a shift. When he was kneeling before, there had been smells of wet rocks and old mud that was now fainter as he stood, but there was another smell that was fading too. A warmer one. A smell of... avocado?

Back at the crater, Rory had come up with nothing while Curtis continued to look around.

"Sorry boss, I'm just not the tracker that Spartan is."

"It's alright. Even if this is a dead end, we have more avenues of investigation."

"This is my fault," Kara interrupted while she crossed her arms, placing a hand over her face. "When I first crashed here I should have made sure I still had the device on me. If I had done that, I probably would have found it no problem and we wouldn't have to be out here."

"It's okay," Oliver argued. "You had gone through a trauma and didn't have your bearings. Your instinct was to seek help. That's normal."

"Ha, normal," Kara chuckled. "I never thought you would ever refer to me as normal."

"I'm full of surprises," Oliver said with a straight face before cracking a smile, causing Kara to giggle.

"'I'm Oliver Queen, I'm an enigma wrapped up in a beefcake wrapped up in green leather,'" Kara was hunching her shoulders and deepening her voice to sound like the Sesame Street Cookie Monster.

"I've never used the word beefcake in my life."

"'I've never used the word beefcake in my life,'" she repeated in that voice. "Come on, that's spot on."

"I have to agree GA," Rory chuckled.

"Jackpot!"

They all three turned at once as Curtis ran toward them, carrying something in his hands with so much care that he didn't notice the tree branch that dragged through his hair before it snagged and then pulled and then snapped to flick him in the ear and fall in his face and down his shirt. Curtis flinched but ignored it as he brought them whatever he was holding.

"I present to you... an artifact not of this world..."

It was some sort of circular disc, black in color with a white stripe down the center that then veered off to the right. Oliver picked it up and turned it over, seeing that there were numbers on the back as well as screws and an embossed battery pack. It wasn't alien from what he could tell but it certainly wasn't anything he had seen before. He turned it over again and as the sunlight glinted off of the front, Kara suddenly gasped.

"That's Lexcorp- I mean L Corp technology! That's from my world!"

Oliver moved to hand Kara the device for her inspection. She reached to pluck it out of his palm with her right hand and then... held his hand with her left hand. They just held hands for a moment as Kara jumped a little bit, bouncing blonde curls swirling around her ears in a messy fall as she cheered. She even threw her head back a little and laughed, a throaty and victorious sound that briefly sent a chill down Oliver's spine. She let go of his hand then to hold the device up with both of hers, now silent but grinning.

He wondered if all Kryptonians had such warm hands.

"Oh my god, it may be small and it may be nothing, but I can't explain how nice it is to have a piece of home."

"No, I get it," Oliver remarked. Kara looked at him with a question but he pushed forward. "What kind of device is it?"

"I'unno," Kara said it so simply that Oliver drew back in surprise and almost laughed. Almost. "I just recognized the logo. Curtis?"

Curtis gave a little bow that made Kara smile again before she handed him the device to look over. "From what I can tell, it's some sort of... neural chip? Yeah, there's stuff in here that you would find in an MRI machine, but somehow minimized with a battery that could rival something from Palmer Tech."

He then pressed it to his own head, causing Oliver to roll his eyes at Curtis's lack of caution with this strange technology but he didn't appear hurt. In fact, he became almost as excited as Kara.

"Static! It's static!" Curtis was laughing until he realized no one understood what he meant. "I can hear the static in my head. The device is literally jacking into my synapses and sending me a message. It's static now but if you connected it to a radio or something, you could listen to music or make a phone call and all of it would go through your head! Does your Earth really have such advanced technology already?"

"No... at least I don't think so," Kara frowned in thought. "L-Corp is cutting edge though, maybe they have something like this in development?"

Oliver was struck by a terrible notion then.

"Rory, where did you say that town was that had the... man-bear sighting?"

"Zillowbrook. It's like... 20 miles from here?"

"Supergirl, can you take me for a quick ride? Also, do you have civilian clothes?"

***

"I think Caitlin is a little bit taller than me..."

Kara was still fidgeting with the pink blouse ("This is a peach blouse how dare you?" Kara had rebutted when Oliver called it pink, causing him such a start that he'd stayed silent since) that seemed to flow and hang off of her frame. She rolled up the sleeves, folded in the sides and tucked them in the waist, but no matter what she did, she couldn't get it to fit right. Caitlin wasn't just taller. Oliver would go so far as to say (though never out loud) that she was also a little larger in the chest than Kara. Thankfully the pencil skirt and heels fit fine, though Kara had griped about those too.

"You're invulnerable to pain aren't you? Do the heels really hurt that much?"

"No, they don't hurt my heels like 99% of women," Kara fumed as she paced in Caitlin's gray pumps, still trying to fiddle with the blouse. "They do however make me walk like a baby duckling that's lost its mother. I usually wear flats! My super suit has wedges! How does Caitlin do this? These things are like a foot off the ground!"

Oliver fought the urge to roll his eyes by simply staring into the middle distance for a moment before he walked up to Kara and gripped her by the shoulder and hip, turning her so her back was towards him. She protested but didn't throw him fifty feet, so after a moment's pause to give Kara a chance to tell him to back up, Oliver pulled the blouse out of her skirt and then started tearing the bottom fabric.

"Hey! I'm borrowing this!"

Oliver took the torn pieces and started reducing them into more strips with his teeth as Kara turned back to him and frowned, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. He then helped her tuck the blouse back in before he started tying off the loose ends with the straps he'd created. It wasn't great looking but it made the front fit Kara's form in a more flattering way. A cardigan could cover up the tied off parts in the back.

"Huh. Not bad," Kara remarked, looking at herself in the reflection of a windowpane that had been discarded behind the alley of the local General Store. "With the back covered, it looks like it almost fits me. Are you some kind of tailor too?"

"I know how to field dress wounds. Same basic concept," Oliver explained as he watched Kara gather her hair up into a ponytail before putting on a pair of non-prescription glasses. "And... I lived with Felicity for nine months. After computers, penguins, and Doctor Who, she's obsessed with fashion. Had to pick something up."

"Ha, like she dragged you to fashion shows and department stores?" Kara joked, turning to Oliver now at a closer eye-level while wearing heels.

"No, had to as in, I needed to learn about this stuff so we could have conversations about it. Just like she learned about baseball for me."

Kara had... some sort of reaction to that, but for once Oliver couldn't read it so he left it alone. They checked that the coast was clear and exited the alley to find 217 Dorsel street. The witness who had reported the "bear-man" to the police lived there, 67 year-old Ben Kerouac. According to the IRS he was retired, living on a Policeman's pension and some money he had invested in the stock market.

"Listen, I needed you to fly me here, but from here on out I'll do the talking okay?"

"Got it," Kara nodded.

"You're from another Earth and the small differences can matter with this type of thing. We need to make sure to ask the right questions-"

"Oliver, I got it."

The house was a small two-story, perfect for a young family with pale white painted walls with a little garden out front. Oliver rang the doorbell and was pleasantly surprised when he heard movement inside.

"He's in the house, heading over to us," Kara reported as she lowered her glasses to look inside.

"I don't need x-ray vision to know that," Oliver smiled as a loud cough erupted from behind the door.

"What do you want?" A large man in a green bathrobe with a shockingly red beard answered the door, eyeing the both of them immediately with suspicion.

"I-"

"Mr. Kerouac, my name is Kara Danvers, I work for Central City Picture News. This is my intern, Winslow Schott, I'm taking him out for his first ride. Would you be able to answer some questions about a recent report you sent the police?"

Oliver was frozen in disbelief as he watched this old man look over Kara in thought. "Yeah, I gave a report to the locals."

"Perfect! May we come inside and I can ask you some questions about it?" Oliver had seen Kara giggle and scrunch up her shoulders like that before, but now she was practically preening at this old man. Almost shamefully, Oliver understood immediately that this approach would work better.

"Yeah, alright," He said, waving them in.

Oliver continued to stay silent, taking his phone out to pretend he was taking notes as Kara gushed about the decor of the inside of the house, followed by remarking on the old man's name. Surprisingly, Kerouac brightened up immediately when Kara mentioned the author, and soon they were going on and on about his books. Oliver lost track of that completely and before he knew it they had been there for fifteen minutes. Kara and Kerouac were acting like old war buddies.

"On the job, you always see the craziest things, things so uncanny that you have trouble even describing them to other people. Sometimes I think about writing a book."

"Ooooh... well that's the dream of course," Kara sighed, looking like a girl reflecting on her first trip abroad, before her body language suddenly became focused. "Still, could any of it be crazier than seeing a giant bear-man?"

Oliver looked up from his phone at that second and saw the old man react to the question without flinching. Kara had pulled down all his walls it seemed.

"Oh for sure! I mean, the Man-Bear or whatever he was, it was strange, but that can be explained. Circus folk, costumes, and yes maybe a metahuman like those ones you hear about in the news. I'm talking about uncanny events, the eerie and unexplained!"

"Hey, I've met my doppelganger, so I know," Kara joked, causing the old man to roar with laughter. She followed suit but gave Oliver a kind of hapless shrug as she did so. "So the bear guy, he just... stood there? Nothing crazy?"

Her tone was bordering on disappointed, maybe sad, and the old man instantly sensed it. After having nothing but smiles and jokes and teasing from Kara for the past 20 minutes, he looked nearly in a panic.

"Well no, he did do something. He was in the old quarry down past Don's Bait Shop. He was... crushing rocks, I guess. Just crushing them in his hands. He saw me for a second, and I'll admit my heart skipped a beat," the old man laughed but Kara didn't respond in turn, simply nodding for him to continue. "Um, the rocks, they got bigger and bigger, like every time he broke one he went for a harder one. Like he was challenging himself. But that's not the weirdest thing."

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked. Kerouac startled as if he realized Oliver had been in the room this whole time.

"I just mean, after seeing all that, the weirdest part was when the Bear guy saw me, he just disappeared! Not, he ran away and I couldn't see him. I mean he, right in front of my eyes, vanished. Like a puff of smoke."

"Why didn't you report that to the police?" Kara asked.

"Well... I was already filing a report about a goddamn mutant bear man. Didn't want them to think I was totally crazy!"

"Did you see anyone else there?"

"A man... for a second. He didn't see me. I think he was just some guy who happened to be nearby because he acted like he didn't see the bear-man. He just walked away, nonchalant, like nothing."

"Could you describe him?"

Kara started sketching as Kerouac described the man. Oliver couldn't see her sketch though and after twenty minutes Kara announced that she had enough. Kerouac made some joke then about "having heard that before" from young women and Kara laughed, though Oliver could tell that this one was more strained.

She gave Oliver a look then that made him nod in return. They were set. Kara spoke to Kerouac for another fifteen minutes before she announced that she had a deadline and a long drive home. She gave the old man a fake phone number and they left, Kerouac smiling and waving the whole time. Oliver waited until they were a block away before he turned to Kara and stopped her with a hand to her arm.

"You think your sketch will help us ID the guy?" he asked.

"Couldn't hurt."

"You surprised me in there."

"Clearly," Kara was dripping with sarcasm. "What, do you think I'm some kind of idiot? I know how to ask questions Oliver. Just because I'm from a different Earth doesn't mean I can't handle myself. I'm an investigative reporter for goodness sake, I know how to get people to answer questions."

"I didn't know you were a reporter," Oliver said simply.

"Oh," Kara flushed a little then.

"How long have you been a reporter?"

"That-that's not important!" she said, flushing even more while she pressed a finger into Oliver's chest. "Listen here bucko, I am asking for your help and I appreciate everything you've done, but I will not be condescended to or ordered around, alright? And I will NOT be put on the bench anymore. We are equals and even on this earth, I still have a lot to offer."

"Oh I know," Oliver grinned then. "That was quality work. I've seen A.R.G.U.S. agents have more difficulties with an interview. It was impressive to watch."

Somehow Kara became even more flushed then but her face stopped being scrunched up and instead looked completely blank before she turned away.

"Thank you. I was pretty nervous the whole time."

Oliver started at that. He never would have guessed. They stood in silence for a few beats before Kara turned to him, flush gone and eyes focused once more.

"So I got that you gleaned something from that old lech. What was it?"

"From what he said, and based on the fact that we found tech near your crater that I'm sure now wasn't from your Earth..." Oliver took a breath as he gathered his thoughts, hoping he could think of a possibility that wasn't so terrifying but coming up blank. "That means someone found the alien device. They learned to use it, maybe even modify it. They learned how to pull tech from another world, hide the signal, and even started pulling people from other worlds."

Kara's eyes went wide and she nodded, looking at her sketch. "He brought a creature over from another Earth... but why?"

"He made it prove its strength to him," Oliver explained, remembering how the old man had described the creature crushing larger and larger rocks. "This guy is recruiting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm conflicted about leaving it here, I honestly expected to be further in the plot with this chapter, but it was getting long and this felt like a good hook for the end. Let me know, what do you think about the ending of this chapter?
> 
> And of course, leave a comment and/or a kudos! Tell me what you think of the story! Your support feeds my ego and your criticisms feed my obsessive perfectionism. Give me a chance to defend my characterizations, you know? And of course, support Arrow and Supergirl. Aw hell, also support The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, they're all pretty great shows.


	4. Chapter 4 - Help, I Need Somebody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara gets closer to finding a way home, despite Oliver distracting her.

“We’ve got sixty seconds before SCPD shows up!”

Three masked men wearing military tactical gear jumped into a pick-up truck, two of them holding bags full of assorted cash. The third was in the driver’s seat, peeling out of the alleyway behind Starling United Bank. As they drove away, he leaned out the window and blasted away with his M4 at frightened civilians.

“Hahaha, no Flash to stop us here!”

“Shut up Klaus,” one of the robbers in back grumbled as he pulled off his mask.

“The money was practically sitting out, waiting for us!” The other robber laughed, firing off a few shots from his 10 mm pistol while shouting. "And we're only getting richer from here!"

“The escape is when we’re the most vulnerable, and we still need to worry about Green Arrow,” the unmasked robber responded.

“Green Arrow is just a guy, I saw him on the news,” the other robber answered, pulling a fist of cash out of his bag to drool over. “A bullet to the head will get him, just like anyone else.”

“Uh, guys? What do I do with this?”

The driver indicated out the window with his gun as his two friends in the back looked at the road. Standing there in the middle of the busy intersection was a girl. Somewhat tall for a woman and blonde. For a second the robbers imagined her as they did most women; how she looked naked. Those thoughts were cut off though as they looked at her clothing and saw a scaled, skintight suit with a weird symbol over the chest. She was also wearing… a cape?

“Mow her down! We can’t stop,” the unmasked robber decided as he took out his own M4 submachine gun. “Just remind me to wipe down the windshield later.”

“Whoo! Let’s see this bitch bounce!” the driver laughed, chanting “bounce” over and over as they got closer and closer. Right as they were about to hit her, the car suddenly lurched to a stop and the driver only remembered the girl smiling before everything went dark.

“See how much easier that was?” Kara asked with a little smile.

She had one hand on the hood, the front of the car folded around her palm. Kara pulled it out of the collapsed metal before she dropped the driver to the ground with her other hand. He’d gone flying out the windshield and Kara had caught him to make sure he didn’t roll down the road for 60 feet.

“I wasn’t worried about how easy it would be,” Green Arrow remarked as one of the passed out and injured passengers in the back tried to aim his gun at them. The back of Oliver’s gauntlet-covered hand in the would be shooter’s face was enough to knock him out. “My worry was for the robbers getting injured due to excessive force. An unnecessary fear I see. Clearly you have… control.”

“You’re all about control, right?”

Kara had only meant it as a little jab but Oliver turned to her then. She felt her smile waver a bit as he walked up to her in full Green Arrow mode, staring holes into her eyes while wearing that mask. It was almost unsettling. Before long he was so close to her that she could see every detail of his face, his eyes, his jawline, a little mole below his lip. A long moment passed before Oliver smiled, the tension breaking between them and causing Kara to smile again and even… well, she felt very flushed. Oliver smiling was miles and miles from him scowling.

“Always.”

***

The elevator doors opened and Oliver pulled his mask down around his neck before pulling his hood back. The team looked up from their duties as he walked forward to the weapons case, placing his bow in its stand before taking a breath. He saw that Kara had gone directly to the computer banks, surveying Felicity’s station and speaking to Curtis.

“Where are we on locating this weapon?” he asked.

“I put Kara’s sketch of the thief that she made from Mr. Kerouac's description into facial recognition. I tried the regular databases, FBI, NSA, A.R.G.U.S., and so far nothing. I’m starting now with international databases and expanding parameters.”

“Okay, are we not going to talk about it?” Curtis piped up. “I mean, Oliver and Supergirl just stopped a bank robbery in less than seven minutes. I think that’s pretty impressive!”

“Indeed she is,” Oliver responded, giving Kara a nod that she returned before brushing her hair over an ear.

“Well, we make a good team,” she returned. “Oliver located a bomb that they left behind in the bank. He probably saved a lot of lives by doing that.”

“The bomb would have been a diversion,” Oliver explained. “The real plan was a Trojan horse that they left in one of the bank operating systems. While everyone would have been dealing with the robbery and the bomb fallout, this virus would have infected the bank’s entire system across the country, allowing them to convert funds digitally into offshore accounts that they set up before the robbery took place.”

“So that makes it… less impressive?” Kara laughed and stepped forward, placing her hands on the railing as she leaned forward, her weight pivoting on her hips against it. “I think that you, sir, just tried to humble-brag me.”

“Humble-brag?”

“When someone, a guy, tries to brag about some cool thing he did, all the while making it sound like he’s being all down-to-earth and no big deal about it. Guys would do it to me all the time in college.”

“Well, I couldn’t have picked it up there,” Oliver stepped up to the platform then, rounding over to Kara so he could look down at her from his full height. “I was too busy drinking and partying when I failed out of college.”

"Four colleges..." Felicity chimed in.

“Geez Louise,” Kara rolled her eyes. “Does a guy fail out of four colleges over partying? Sounds to me like you might have been distracted by something else… probably girls?”

“If you knew me better,” Oliver shrugged. “You would know that was absolutely true.”

Kara broke eye contact then, smiling and maybe even… blushing? Oliver had seen Kara flush before but it was always from anger or frustration or when she had played it up for that old man. Now seeing her lick her lips and fidget with her hair again, Oliver was reminded of how bizarre it was for him to think of Supergirl, not as an alien but more like… well, like a girl.

“Um… not to cut too much into this love fest, but I wanted to run something by you,” Felicity’s voice broke Oliver out of his distraction as he looked past Kara to Felicity. “I had a thought that maybe the reason we haven’t been able to find this guy is because our search parameters aren’t wide enough.”

“Maybe my sketch isn’t good enough,” Kara offered, turning from Oliver to look at the screen Felicity was indicating.

“No, your sketch was great! I mean, I swear, when I draw it never turns out right. I can’t even draw a cat without it looking like a cactus. I think it has to do with their ears…”

“What is this idea?” Oliver cut in.

“Right, sorry. We’ve been looking for someone who has the technical know-how to hide this alien device’s blackout trail, someone who might understand the multiverse or communications technology, but what if we shouldn’t be looking for a scientist?”

“This guy…" Kara cupped her chin with her hand in thought, scrunching up her chin in an adorable frown. "He’s recruiting metahumans from other dimensions-”

“A sentence that still wigs me out by the way,” Curtis interrupted.

“-and he’s travelling in a military grade vehicle. He must have technical know-how. Doesn't that mean scientist?”

“Right, but maybe it's not a mutually exclusive thing,” Felicity pondered as she began typing again, no longer saying anything but Oliver followed her thought track.

“Look into any thefts of material or equipment that might be used in dimensional research. Also military grade computer systems, maybe even-”

“-dark matter energy technology, like the kind used in the particle accelerator,” Felicity finished for him, pulling up four new screens on her computer that then scanned names with pictures. All of that information was pulled up alongside a scan of Kara’s sketch.

“Got it! Yes! Can’t get away from me sucka!” Felicity shouted and laughed, pumping her fists before she stopped and looked at her hands in disapproval. “Oh no, I’ve been hanging out with Cisco a little too much.”

“You have something?” Kara asked excitedly.

“Our thief’s name is Clifford Carmichael. His area of study in his PhD program, before he was kicked out, was Particle Physics with a specialty in… wow,” Felicity gave a shake of her head before continuing. “With a specialty in string theory and the existence of multiple universes.”

“So this is the guy?” Rory asked as he stepped up onto the platform, looking over the computer screens with them.

“Two years ago this guy was all the talk at Vandermeer University in Hub City. He also minored in Microbiology? Geez, overachiever much?”

“What happened two years ago?” Kara asked.

“He was denied a grant for research he was doing in… applications of vibrational variations on the fabric of physical forces in our universe. They probably pulled it for being such a mouthful honestly,” Felicity joked, causing Kara to smile. “… after that he left the university but only after he took all of his research with him, as well as all of the university’s most advanced equipment from their theoretical physics and engineering departments. The university said they were handling the theft internally so they never filed an official report with the police. No charges filed, no case opened, that's why he wasn't in any criminal database.”

“Can we get a location on him,” Oliver cut in, sure now that they had the right person. “A base of operations, a place with known associates, maybe credit card transactions.”

“I’m on it.”

Oliver nodded, placing his hand on Felicity’s shoulder to let her know that he had full faith in her abilities. She reached up and placed her hand over his, interlocking their fingers for a moment before she let go and focused on her work. After looking over what they had so far, sure that there was nothing else he would be able to see there for now, Oliver gave Kara a nod before walking past her.

“Wait Oliver.”

He turned to Kara then, surprised to see that she looked concerned. He had expected her to be excited or relieved now that they had their first actual clue and a chance at helping her get home. If she could get excited over stopping an ordinary bank robbery, surely this deserved some sort of reaction or cheer.

“What does this mean for us?” Kara asked. Oliver was startled by the question for a moment before Kara’s frown turned to a blush and she shook her head. “I mean, Felicity is looking for this Carmichael, does that mean you’re going to go and be all… mayoral now, while you wait?”

“Actually Kara, I was going to stay here,” he explained, surprised and a little offended that Kara was questioning his focus. “Felicity has almost located this guy. I can tell we’re close. I want to be on hand and ready to hit the streets the moment she has a name and address.”

Felicity leaned back and gave both of them an "OK" sign with her fingers. Kara saw this but seemed unimpressed, so Oliver continued.

“You should have faith in her.”

“So you’re not going anywhere?” Kara asked, again surprising him.

“I- no, I’m not.”

“Okay,” Kara gave a breath of relief before nodding. “I’m glad you’re sticking around.”

Oliver simply nodded along, unsure of what to say to that.

As the time went by, Felicity continued working while Curtis stood by her side assisting where he could, including grabbing a couple of coffees and offering one to her. Meanwhile Oliver first took off his armor and suit before working with Rene on his leg. It was mostly fine at this point, but he showed Rene a few stretches that would help the healing and an herbal tea that relaxed muscles.

“Hey, how come Rene is the only one who works out? Don’t you guys need to train too?” Kara asked. She'd been basically shadowing Oliver the whole time he worked with Rene.

“The super powered alien is criticizing our workout regimen?” Rene scoffed as he went over to the weapons station and grabbed a sword.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Kara gave back.

“Curtis needs to work out too. Probably twice as hard as Rene does,” Oliver explained before giving Curtis a pointed look.

“Right, right. Felicity, you call if you need help. I’ll be… on the salmon ladder…” Curtis sighed.

“And Rory?” Kara asked.

“I don’t require Rory to train. He has… separate skills that need to honed.”

“What he means is that with my rags, fighting hand to hand isn’t really a worry for me," Rory explained, stepping down from the computer platform to address Oliver and Kara. "I mostly focus on controlling them, making sure that they remain under my control, as well as working some engineering stuff that the team needs."

“Rags? Wait, so you’re Ragman? Oh of course, so we have met before! I’m sorry I didn’t realize,” Kara apologized.

“I get it. We were in uniform.”

“We all have our roles, our strengths, our parts to play in this,” Oliver took Kara lightly by the elbow and leaned toward her so he was speaking softly to her right ear. “You will have your part to play too.”

Oliver moved back while Kara seemed lost in thought before shaking her head. “It just feels like... ever since I came to this Earth, everyone I know is putting their lives on hold to help me. I created this problem, I brought this dangerous weapon to your Earth, I should be the one who fixes it.”

“You don’t have friends on your Earth?” Oliver asked. “People who help you, back you up?”

“Of course I do. I have my sister, my friends, even the D.E.O. I just…” Kara seemed lost in thought again and Oliver gave Rory a look to indicate that they needed a moment alone. “When I need to wait on my Earth, I always have something to do. I have a job, work that needs to be done, a life that I live. Here I just wait around in your bunker reading the same three books. By the way, your library is terrible.”

“I didn’t know we had a library.”

Kara had a flicker of a smile before her frown came back. “I’m just not used to being helpless.”

Oliver stared at Kara in thought, wondering again at how differently he saw her before. The all-powerful alien, invincible and above all the problems that Oliver faced in his day to day life. Doubt, anger, hopelessness; these were the petty things to a being that regularly accomplished the impossible. He had seen Kara as part of a world too fantastic and too insane to ever resemble something that Oliver could recognize.

Now she almost reminded him of Thea.

“A long time ago, a man who saved my life, taught me a very important lesson,” Oliver sighed as he remembered that day so long ago on the Island. “A man, or a woman in this case, must always keep moving, even if that movement is as small as taking a breath. After that, whenever I felt weak or scared, he would remind me to breathe. Always breathing.”

Oliver placed his hand over Kara’s shoulder while he pressed the other hand to her sternum, above her chest. Here he could feel the beginning of her trachea as it started up from her lungs and feel the breath passing through her. He felt for Kara’s breath.

“Breathe Kara,” He explained slowly. “When it’s time for you to take action, you’ll know it. Until then, you _are_ doing something. You’re focusing on finding the right moment to act.”

And like it had done for Oliver nearly ten years ago, Kara seemed to lose some of the tension in her shoulders and arms. A weight that she had been carrying from the moment Caitlin told her she was trapped on this world, seemingly forever, finally burned away and left her feeling clean and free for the first time in a while. She opened her eyes and Oliver could see clarity in them. This was the confident goddess who had saved all their lives countless times on the day of the Invasion, Oliver’s included.

“Who taught you this wisdom?” She whispered.

“His name was Yao Fei,” Oliver whispered in return before he let Kara go, stepped back, and spoke at a normal volume. “He was my first teacher and a good man.”

“Hmm…” Kara hummed in thought. “If my sister were here, she’d say this was a bunch of meditation yoga nonsense. Lucky for you, I’m a sucker for all that, “The Secret” put it out in the universe stuff.”

Oliver broke out laughing and Kara followed him. He couldn’t help himself as every time it seemed like he was done, she would burst out laughing again and take him along the way. Eventually he managed to stop but the smile was permanent as Kara continued to chuckle to herself.

“By the way, I figured out what most of the equipment in here is for, but I don’t get the monkey bar,” Kara pointed at the salmon ladder over her shoulder as Curtis did some pull-ups. “That’s like a training thing, right? How does it work?”

***

"Move your back foot. Move it. Keep- you gotta move it Rene."

Oliver took a large swipe forward, the sword whistling over Rene's head as he crouched and tried to stab up at Oliver's throat from below. It looked like it would work and that Oliver would soon have to breathe through a hole in his throat but at the very last second Oliver's head ticked to the side and the blade missed. After that, Oliver turned in a full circle, tapping Rene's hand with the flat of his blade and sweeping his foot across the floor under Rene's knees, putting the trainee on his back before Oliver laid the point of his blade at Rene's throat. Wild Dog grunted like his code name while his sword clattered on the ground next to him.

"You didn't move your back foot."

"I was trying to re-anchor it. You said an un-anchored foot leaves you open to attacks from behind," Rene sighed, simply tapping the back of his head on the ground a couple times in obvious frustration.

"Yes, but no one was attacking you from the back," Oliver reached down to help Rene up, the sword in Oliver's left hand being held in such a way that the blade was parallel with his arm. "It's okay to sacrifice your guard based on circumstances. It's a risk but sometimes risks are necessary when it's a life or death decision."

Rene nodded but clearly was only half-listening as he picked up his sword and swiped it through the air a few times, steel cutting through the air sounding like a high pitched whistle in Kara's ears. She watched as Oliver gripped Rene by the shoulder and started talking a little bit more about sword stuff but Kara wasn't able to focus on it. For some reason, she could only guess why, Oliver and Rene insisted on practicing while shirtless and after fifteen minutes of swinging at each other, they were both drenched in sweat.

Sweaty, shirtless Oliver was a sight that Kara wasn't sure she would ever get used to. Rene and Oliver were both muscles on muscles, smooth planes and straining biceps that made them look powerful and... and... well Kara had gotten her eyeful. 

Sword-fighting was less distracting than that freaking salmon ladder though. Kara had thought it was silly when Oliver first described it, and she continued to think that when Curtis took his turn. Mr. Terrific, as the writing on his jacket named him, had managed to move up two rungs before his strength gave out and he fell, Oliver commending him on his progress.

Then Oliver took a turn and... it was a bit of a blur honestly. Kara only remembered a broad chest and miles and miles of back muscles as Oliver effortlessly shifted the metal bar from one level to the next. It looked like the kind of exercise Kara would scoff at on late night infomercials while she ate twenty dumplings with a chaser of cheesy bread. Seeing it in real life... it was like a poetry of controlled violence, almost beautiful.

Which was saying something because Oliver's body wasn't just strong or... appealing... it was also frightening. Kara had never seen so many scars on one person before. Looking at the marks across his chest and stomach, she could see that Oliver was used to pain, but the worst was on his back. Knife wounds, burns, animal bites, and just the sheer amount of bullet and arrow scars... she wondered how a man could take so much and still be alive.

She almost said something, almost... but eventually Kara decided against it. As curious as she was, as painful as all of those wounds looked, Kara figured Oliver didn't need to talk about them. After all, most scars didn't come from happy memories. The most important part was that Oliver survived. Kara didn't need to know the painful details.

Still, she looked at Oliver differently now, she couldn't help it. Part of it was shock and maybe a little fear, though that was silly because everything in this place was literally unable to harm her but... the idea of pain was something she struggled with at times. The idea of her friends in pain, that was a feeling she knew well and hated, so seeing Oliver's scars was difficult. More confusing, another part her couldn't stop thinking about touching them, running her fingers over every ridge and bump to feel the smoothness between...

Thankfully Oliver seemed completely unaware of Kara's sudden, immature desires as he continued answering her questions and showing her around the "Arrow Cave," as Rory called it. Kara quickly picked up that Oliver wasn't crazy about that name so she started calling it that too, if only to help remove the stick from his butt. Plus making him grumpy made him less likely to stand so close to her, and when Oliver Queen was standing there all sweaty and shirtless, while ALSO smiling? 

She didn't understand how a guy could sweat so much and not smell absolutely revolting. That was Oliver's true superpower.

Oliver told Rene that they were done and to keep resting his leg before going over to the weapons station. He grabbed a hoodie and zipped it up before donning some goggles, explaining that he was going to sharpen arrowheads next. Kara decided now was a good time to clear her head of sweat and testosterone. Curtis and Rene were practicing with those wooden sticks so Felicity was alone at the computer station.

"How's it going?" Kara asked, snapping Felicity out of a thought.

"Oh, it's going well," Felicity answered after a brief moment of surprise. "Right now the search algorithm is running with new data, so all I can do is wait. It has to tap into about ten different protected databases so, you know, time."

"Right."

Kara felt a tension in the air then, though she couldn't put a name to it. Felicity smiled but it was a little more forced and Kara had trouble keeping eye contact. Why had she walked over here? Why did she feel so weird?

"I'm sorry if we got off on the wrong foot earlier," Kara started, causing Felicity to look away from the computers and focus on her. "About all that Damien Darhk stuff. I know... I've known people who kill before. I know it's not cut and dry, black and white. I was just surprised is all. Oliver is intense and kinda scary but I never thought about him... killing people."

Felicity nodded slowly. "Sometimes it's the only way. Sometimes."

"Right, I get that. Maybe I was..." Kara looked Felicity in the eye then. "I was surprised because I understand that Oliver might have to kill but I didn't think his team would be so supportive."

The words felt like she was judging Felicity but thankfully bottle blonde (x-ray vision doesn't lie) didn't seem to take offense. In fact Felicity's face softened a bit at that. 

"When I first joined... the idea of Oliver killing people made me really uneasy. I remember quitting at one point, right after I joined up with him."

"Since then you've... adjusted?"

"It started with Malcolm Merlyn," Felicity spit the name with obvious disgust. "It was clear that to beat him, Oliver would have to kill him. I think I decided after that, if it comes down to Oliver dying or killing someone else, I'll choose him killing every time."

"Of course," Kara responded, though a part of her brain whispered, "You can always find another way."

"Then it just... the more we did this, the more it became clear that sometimes no matter what you do or how hard you try, there are some threats that are too dangerous, too cruel... that the only way to keep the people you care about and sometimes even the entire city safe is by going to extremes. I promise you Kara, Damien Darhk was that kind of threat."

Kara understood Felicity a little bit better then. As cold and harsh as she had been earlier, it wasn't for Kara's sake or even something Felicity naturally had in her. It was a reflex for her, defending Oliver. Over time, Felicity had clearly developed the opinion that Oliver's safety preceded everything else, even saving people. Kara was not totally on board, but when she thought of Alex murdering Astra, of someone threatening Eliza or James or someone else Kara cared about, she felt closer to the idea.

"You know Oliver... he carries so much guilt all the time, even for stuff that isn't his fault. He doesn't want to be a killer," Felicity looked over at Oliver then as sparks flew up around him, the grinding of a new arrowhead being sharpened. "Barry told me once that Oliver struggles against his more violent instincts. That every time he does something like that, he lets the darkness take hold of him a little more. He becomes a little more numb to the violence and the pain. It's like a poison, and every time he takes a little more of that poison to protect us or this city... sacrifice like that makes him a hero."

Kara couldn't help herself then. "How long have you been in love with him?"

Felicity made a tangled up noise with her mouth before shaking her head. "Haha, we are not, uh, no... we tried that. It didn't work out."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I ended it," Felicity said a little too quickly. "The answer is that I was in love with Oliver for a long time, and a part of me will always love him. But that part is over now." 

Kara nodded before she had to ask. "But you manage to still work with him?"

"I still believe in him. He's still a hero."

"Well..." Kara was impressed by the level of dedication this team showed each other. "Who knows what the future will bring? Maybe you'll find your way back to each other."

Felicity shook her head but didn't say anything. The stood in their mutual silence for a few moments before Felicity turned to look at her and suddenly Kara felt awkward again, though in a different way. She could tell that she was being read.

"Is there something on my face?" Kara broke first.

"Be careful."

"What?"

"Oliver has a way of sucking you in when he just looks at you and... he says the right things, makes you feel like you're the only person in the entire world..." Felicity hummed a bit before turning back to her computers. It gave Kara a moment to regather herself. "Then all of a sudden you feel like he's always drawing you in, with every movement, every glance..." 

"Felicity, I don't feel..."

"...every location, a location! We have a location on him right now!"

Oliver was suddenly there, transported from Kara's muddled thoughts to right there in front of her eye line, abs and nipples and scars all in her face. She got so startled in fact that Kara floated up, toward the ceiling and away from everyone as they gathered around Felicity. Rory and Rene looked a little bug eyed about that but everyone else ignored her.

"Where?" Oliver asked.

"Traffic cam footage from Bludhaven picked up Carmichael entering a cab seventeen minutes ago. The cab has onboard GPS. I'll be able to pinpoint wherever it drops him off."

"He finally made a mistake. Good work."

Felicity nodded without looking up while Oliver walked away from the computers, heading straight for his bow. He turned and saw Kara floating and she immediately came back down to the ground, embarrassed that she'd had such an extreme reaction. Over a sweaty man of all things! Cat Grant would be disappointed in her.

"Supergirl, get ready to move out, we'll need your eyes in the sky. You'll serve as backup in case of escalation. Rory, I want you to cover exits while Curtis and I take point. We'll most likely engage but I want to focus on extraction first."

"My leg is fine boss," Rene jumped in, already zipping up his combat boots with one hand while holding his hockey mask in the other.

"No, we decided after Evelyn that one of us would always be on bunker duty. Besides, with Supergirl on board this is going to be a cakewalk."

Kara was actually mad at herself now. She felt the blush coming from Oliver's compliment and tried to push it away with sheer force of will. Of course he complimented her! She had powers! She was bulletproof! It was only a logical statement that this would go easier with her help, she didn't need to make a big deal of it! Kara surreptitiously ran a hand over her neck to try and calm down, hoping that her blush was being effectively combated.

"Uh-oh. Houston, we have a problem," Felicity chimed in. "Or wait, I guess I would be Houston? So... astronauts, we have a problem. But that doesn't sound right either."

"Felicity."

"SCPD just reported that Blockbuster broke out of his cell in Iron Heights," she explained to Oliver. "The power dampeners in the metahuman wing weren't stopping him from transforming, so guards decided to chain him up in the lowest sub-levels."

"How medieval," Rory noted.

"He managed to break out, thankfully without releasing any of the metahumans. Guards report he was bee-lining straight for Star City."

Oliver said nothing, turning away from Felicity to stare at the cases that housed the Green Arrow, Spartan, and Speedy costumes. Clearly this was an issue that needed to be addressed immediately, yet Oliver was hesitating and Kara had an idea why. Selfishly she was glad for Oliver's thoughtfulness but nonetheless Kara spoke up.

"Protect your city Oliver."

He turned to her but she stayed focused. "Felicity, can you get me an earpiece and talk me into where you tracked Carmichael?"

"Oh uh, yeah, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Alright, I'll follow this guy, get the alien weapon, and be out of your hair and back to S.T.A.R. Labs within the hour," Kara continued while Oliver looked conflicted. "I told you before, I brought this problem to your world. It's not your responsibility to solve it, it's mine."

Everyone was looking at Oliver now as he and Kara stared off, waiting for the other to change their mind. Kara knew it wouldn't be her. Oliver had a whole life here, people who counted on him. Kara was was just an intruder. If she hadn't come to him for help, Oliver would already be heading out to take on this Blockbuster problem and Kara didn't need any lives hanging over her conscience. She stamped her foot a bit to emphasize that she would not budge and eventually Oliver broke eye contact, looking at the ground before he lifted up his head and nodded. Then he turned away from her to face his team.

"Suit up."

***

Kara scanned the warehouse carefully with her x-ray vision, making sure she covered every level of the building, searching every corner for hidden passageways. Thankfully this time there didn't seem to be a secret underground lab, so she chalked that up to the win column. She focused her super hearing, but other than breathing and a few other inconsequential noises (two men were in the bathroom literally whipping them out to see whose was bigger but Kara refused to acknowledge that) it was all quiet.

"Felicity, does satellite imaging show anything I might be missing?"

"Negative, same as before. Multiple heat signatures, with one weird one, totaling eleven. I'm blocking wireless communications to and from the building. They eagerly await a surprise visit from the Maiden of Might."

That's what Kara had thought and yet she still hesitated. Whoever was in there had not only figured out how to operate the Zoltam weapon, they'd even managed to modify it so they could access the multiverse like Cisco did with his vibes. Anyone who knew how to alter alien technology like that would have no problem enhancing its weapon capabilities and Kara had barely survived her first brush with it. If she was attacked by that device again, she might very well end up on an Earth where everyone was bunnies and barnyard animals!

She thought about Alex again as she always did when she felt lost. If her sister were here, Kara was sure she would say that there was nothing wrong with being careful, but that sometimes action was what mattered. That this was a job for Supergirl. But what Kara had never told Alex was that she could only be Supergirl without any fears because she knew that Alex was always right there, supporting and protecting her.

There was no Danvers family here, Kara had looked. If a version of Alex existed on this Earth, then Kara had no idea where to find her. Forgetting that, it wouldn't have been the same Alex anyway. Just an illusion, a ghost of someone that she would recognize. She would be a completely separate person, completely separate from Kara's Earth, life, friends... Oliver, Felicity, Rene, Curtis, Rory, this was their home, not hers. She didn't belong here. She couldn't be here anymore.

"Alright, I'm going in."

Kara flew down, crashing through iron and aluminum until she felt her feet settle on concrete. This warehouse used to store spare parts for large drilling equipment that some big company used for its off-shore oil reserves. As more and more countries and businesses shifted from oil based energy though, the warehouse had become abandoned, the name on the lease eventually shifting to the city clerk's office of Bludhaven. No visits, no oversight, the perfect bad guy lair for Clifford Carmichael to... be a bad guy. 

"Which one of you is Clifford Carmichael?"

Almost before Kara could finish the question she heard the guns click. Bullets flew from every direction. Kara barely felt them as she glanced around and saw seven men, all armed up with huge guns, firing at her without even aiming. She immediately sped forward to where four were grouped together and shoved them into each other, knocking them down in a mass of limbs before she snapped their weapons and tossed the pieces at the other three shooters.

One by one she knocked them down with heavy rifle barrels and carbon-composite stocks until there was only one left, reloading his gun for another spray. Kara sped toward him and snatched his gun away, melting it to nothing with her heat vision before lifting the man up by his collar into the air, his feet dangling and kicking.

"Are you Clifford Carmichael?"

"That would be me."

Kara tossed the guy aside into a wall before she turned to this new voice. A very skinny man in a fitted gray suit walked toward her, adjusting a silk blue tie as he looked around at his fallen henchmen. He had sandy blonde hair that was cut long, strands hanging in his face and sticking out randomly on the sides. He looked like he'd just gotten out of bed, yet there was focus in his green eyes. He looked fascinated by everything he was seeing.

"Dr. Carmichael, if you would. Though lately I prefer **The Thinker.** You were looking for me dear?" His tone was feigning politeness but Kara could immediately tell it for what it was: condescension.

"You have something, something that doesn't belong to you."

"Oh, you mean this?" the man asked, pulling the Zoltam device out of a pocket in his suit jacket. "Perhaps it doesn't belong to me, but I'm most certain it doesn't belong to you."

"That device is dangerous," Kara responded, walking forward calmly but on high alert. As much as she wanted to take that device and get it to Cisco right now, she knew it would be a mistake to let her guard down.

"Corrosive acid is dangerous. Gamma Radiation is dangerous. Fire. Everything that man has used to propel himself into the next technological age has been fraught with caution and paranoia," The man made a gesture with his head, and soon more men came into the room, the remaining two he had left with him. That only left one unaccounted for, and Kara had a guess as to who that was.

"Only when we lift ourselves from the petty concerns of this... small and material world will we be able to grasp greatness. Don't you want your fellow man to achieve his true potential?"

"Sorry, not human, can't relate."

It came from the left. The creature, standing at 15 feet at least with giant arms covered in fur, ran forward screaming and growling. Kara repressed her instinct to move back and float and instead planted her feet. The first swipe missed as she tilted her head back. The second missed as she stepped aside and pushed the creature forward, causing it to run past her and stumble. When it turned around to swing at her face she caught it with her opposing hand before swinging down with the other, right down on the creature's bicep. She felt a sort of primal satisfaction out of hearing the bone crunch.

It screamed out in pain, completely distracted as Kara reared back her fist and punched the creature straight in the jaw. It went down to one knee after that before she gripped it by the shoulder and shot up into the air, stopping near the ceiling. Grabbing some hanging lights and bending the metal piping that held them up, she constructed a few restraints that she tied around the creatures arms and legs, strapping it down (or rather up) onto the ceiling.

Floating there next to the defeated meta, Kara smiled down at Carmichael hoping he would give up quietly now.

"Impressive," he said, barely effected. Kara floated down until she stood face to face with him. He was tall, maybe a little taller than Oliver, though three times as skinny. He looked like a TA she'd had in college.

"It's over Carmichael. Hand over the device and we can make this easy."

"Science is never easy."

She heard the shot first. The guy was standing so close to Carmichael, he was still in Kara's field of vision when he pulled the gun out, but out of habit she ignored the movement. The next thing was feeling it. It hit like normal, barely registering with her, until she suddenly felt dizzy. Heavy. 

Something was in her arm. 

Then she felt a searing pain, almost like heat, like it was trying to dig in deeper. She looked down then and saw that the bullet hadn't bounced off harmlessly as expected. In fact it was still there, a small river of blood trailing down and dripping onto the floor. There was already a small puddle forming.

"I'm... what did you do?" Kara asked, feeling lightheaded and almost falling over before she caught her footing. She reached up and touched the bullet with her other hand, feeling the bent and misshapen slug. It was only half lodged in her arm, the bone having stopped it from going any further. She gripped it with her fingers and pulled, the pain tripling for a moment and causing her to gasp before it came out with a soft squelch.

"Now see, that's downright impressive," Carmichael ignored her question, staring as she held the bullet up. It looked blue on the edges. "That bullet is made of Inertron, a metal not found on this Earth. 100 times denser than titanium, it's the hardest substance I've ever come across in the multiverse. It's so heavy, it can only be fired from guns equipped with anti-gravity propulsion technology from another, whole separate Earth! I had to modify both to make the bullets work in the guns I designed and STILL... despite all that... it still only manages to barely pierce your skin? What an astounding creature you are."

Kara had been so focused on her wound, she didn't notice that the man was now standing right in front of her, so close that she could smell the coffee on his breath.

"I recognize you now. You helped the Flash and those other costumed vigilantes stop the alien invasion a few months ago. No one knew who you were... but I had my theories."

"Stop, stop right there," Kara ordered but she could hear the crack in her voice. A chill went down her spine when she saw Carmichael's men pull out guns, striped with a blue color that looked similar to the bullet she had pulled out of her arm.

"I had plans for these bullets, to be used against Special Forces with their advanced armor tech, maybe even against metahumans if necessary, but against an alien... one from another world... how perfect..." Carmichael pulled a similar gun out of his waistband and aimed it right at Kara's forehead, causing her to stumble as she moved back in panicked reflex. "Lucky I thought of these. Then again, I always think of everything. That's the key to these sort of things you know. Think of everything that could possibly happen and be prepared for all of it."

"Carmichael, hand over that device before you-"

"Before I what? Make the situation MORE advantageous for me?" Still holding the gun to her forehead, Carmichael pulled the Zoltam device from his jacket pocket and pressed down on it with his thumb. Some sort of device with multiple buttons and small smartphone-like readouts were now attached to the side of the yellow, clean-lined side of the alien weapon.

A breach, but not quite the same kind of breach Cisco made, appeared on the floor. It was as if a hole was suddenly dug into the ground but rather than leading to the basement, it led to some bottomless pit that Kara couldn't see into with x-ray or telescopic vision. Then a hand came out of the hole, large and inhuman, green with gnarled and twisted fingers. Then up climbed a creature that was equally green and horrifying as it towered over Kara, blocking all light that came from overhead and trapping her in its shadow.

"I found this fellow just yesterday. I thought he made the perfect trump card."

The creature reached forward, causing Kara to lurch back but the fingers grew and followed her, gripping her around the chest. She tried to pull away, fly away, but it was like the creature shut off her strength as it held her. Suddenly her ribs felt tight and Kara realized that the creature was crushing her in its hand. She couldn't breathe!

_"Breathe Kara. Always breathing."_

"You know bamboo torture? They strap you down on a bed with bamboo underneath and wait for it to grow until it's piercing through the mattress and stabbing you in the back, slowly but surely. This guy is like that, only without the waiting part. I'm also not clear on whether his physiology actually resembles bamboo or not. Results have been inconclusive."

"Stop... stop..." Kara heard her own voice but it sounded faint and far away.

"I've dissected many interesting creatures over the past few days, though my Floronic Man will be quite the treat. Someday. He's too valuable now. I guess Wendigo will have to do, since he's proven how truly ineffective he is as a bodyguard. 

"And once I finish with him, I'll start on you. I bet I'll find some truly fascinating discoveries in your body... Supergirl."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again as I wrote this I didn't aim for a cliffhanger yet one happened. Also, I had some trouble figuring out how to portray Kara's attraction to Oliver from her point of view. 
> 
> Let me know how I did by leaving a comment and/or a kudos! Your support feeds my ego and your criticisms feed my obsessive perfectionism. The more feedback I get the faster I update! 
> 
> And of course, support Arrow and Supergirl. Aw hell, also support The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, they're all pretty great shows.


	5. Chapter 5 - Bloody Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara struggles against the Thinker, Oliver struggles against guilt, and they both agree that Kara should put some clothes on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want everyone to understand that I will not always be able to post this often. I'm just on a roll and I want to ride this motivation train until I run out of steam. Also, this chapter is way too long, sorry about that. Future chapters will be shorter.

Her vision was fuzzy shapes and bright lights, the edges of everything bleeding into each other like spots of ink on paper. She tried to focus, both in a mental and super hero sense, but she felt so tired. The pain in her ribs that felt so bad earlier was now a distant pin prick on a surface that stretched across the galaxy. Kara wondered if she was back on her ship, floating through space amidst the destroyed debris of Krypton.

Krypton. That was her home. Not this far away place where the language was different, the people were strange, and the sun was the wrong color. In fact this Earth was so wrong, they didn't even know what Krypton was! Just some distant star, unknown and unclear, with a single girl orbiting it for millennia to come.

"No Kara, that's not true. Your home is here, with your family."

She managed to lift her eyelids slightly, the room and the people still vague and undefined shapes, but there in the middle of all the darkness was one person: Alex. She looked beautiful and strong. She was dressed in a blue, flowing dress, and Kara realized it was the dress she wore the day that Kara graduated from National City University. Alex had been so proud of her that day. Eliza had bought her a pasta maker to mark the occasion.

"I'm so tired... so lost... I can't fight this anymore..."

"I don't accept that," Alex argued, stepping closer and kneeling. "You are a fighter Kara. You are strong. You always manage to find a way and that's not going to change just because you're on another Earth. That's what makes you Supergirl."

"Supergirl doesn't even exist on this Earth..."

"Of course not. You are the only Supergirl the multiverse needs. Every day I have watched you grow and become the hero I'll always believe in. Your fight is not over. You are not meant to die here. So get up. Get up! Feel the fire that's inside of you and GET UP!"

***

"So, Big Belly Burger after this? Star City's the last stop that will have one."

Carmichael was chatting with his three remaining guards that Supergirl hadn't knocked unconscious as he flipped through Yelp on his phone. His Floronic Man, the plant creature that he had pulled from an Earth where humans never came to be, was wrapping Supergirl tighter and tighter in its vines, now covering not just her chest but her arms, legs, and face. He figured, barring this Supergirl having respiratory abilities he didn't know about, she was finished.

"Don't they have umm... what's it called... Flop Burger? Those are good," Ricky, the oldest henchman argued.

"Eh, I like Flop Burger but they don't use pickles. What kind of burger-"

An explosion, almost like a volcano going off, suddenly burst through the room sending all of them flying in multiple directions. The Thinker screamed in pain as something stabbed into his back, and he looked down to see that he had been thrown back into some broken concrete, a metal support column now sticking through his back and out his hip, right below his appendix. The pain was excruciating but he barely noticed it.

His Floronic Man was screaming, groaning, shifting and regenerating himself as half of his body continued to writhe in flames. The henchmen who were still conscious were crying and screaming from the first degree burns that covered their faces and hands. The floor had become a crater, melted concrete and steel littered in every direction. It was as if a pit to hell had opened up before them.

And from the middle of that crater was Supergirl, her eyes glowing with a demonic light that made Cliff seriously worry that he was about to die. Her whole face looked like a mask of red and blue light. The heat coming from them was so great that the air was shifting and moving like a mirage.

Floronic Man tried to attack her again but she shot a quick blast of foculized heat from her eyes that caused the reaching tendril to recoil back as it caught on fire. His favorite creature would be able to recover, he was sure, but Cliff knew that for now it was down and out. He found the strength to pull the Gravity Gun from his waistband before he remembered that his gun didn't have any real Inertron bullets loaded.

Nonetheless, his motion made Supergirl flinch, the glow around her eyes fading until all that was left was a normal-looking girl in a silly costume. Whatever she did, however she found the strength to do it, Cliff could tell that was her last charge. Now he could see she was wobbling on her feet, struggling to hold onto consciousness let alone put up an actual fight. If one of his men could manage to get a shot off, throw the girl off-balance, they would regain control of this situation.

"Well well, are you able to create some sort of microwave radiation through your occipital lobe?" Cliff asked, drawing Supergirl's attention to him again so he could distract her long enough for one of his men to hopefully act. "Or was that a focalization of your super strength through a different output? You prove to be more exciting every moment."

Supergirl turned to him then, sweating and shivering, but he had to give her credit, she focused on his wound before anything else. Though she didn't smile, he could tell it pleased her that he was injured and stuck until he could get some medical attention. The pain made him unable to focus. 

She was about to step forward when one of his men, Benjy it looked like, fired off a shot that missed Supergirl's head but managed to give her a long cut along her cheek. Almost tipping over after that, Supergirl screamed before shooting up into the air and flying through the hole in the skylight she made earlier. Part of Cliff gave a breath of relief that she was gone, at least for now, but the more opportunistic part of him, his scientific curiosity, wanted more than anything to follow her.

"Someone get me my med kit and pull me off of this. The med kit from Earth-J, the green one," he ordered, seeing that at least four of his men were now conscious. "Then get me my handheld radar. She's injured and losing blood, she won't be able to get far."

"Mr. Thinker, are you sure?" one of them asked, slack-jawed and unthinking.

"My father always said, you don't leave a wounded animal alive. You put a bullet in its head. It's the decent thing."

***

_Fifteen minutes earlier_

Curtis was adjusting something on a tablet that was connected to his T-Sphere while Rory wrapped more and more rags around Blockbuster, making sure to put extra pressure around the joints so the creature would be kept off balance. Three sedative arrows were stuck in its back, the little help they offered, and Rory pulled them out by hand as he worked. Curtis finished typing something and the T-Sphere stuck to Blockbuster's temple sparked again.

"There, that last charge blocked the connection between Mark Desmond's adrenal gland and the formula that's permanently collected in his Parietal lobe. He won't be able to transform again."

"Good work Mr. Terrific," Oliver nodded as Rory started lifting Blockbuster up into a standing position, so he could be loaded into a vehicle without as much difficulty. "How are you doing Ragman?"

"Piece of cake," the thousand voices of Havenrock, including Rory, reported. "Now that he's unconscious, he's way easier to lift. In fact I think I can feel him shrinking."

Rory was right. Oliver watched as Blockbuster slowly shifted back to Mark Desmond, the rags wrapped around him loosening piece by piece until the scientist fell to the ground in an awkward flop. Clearly Curtis's T-Sphere had worked even better than they could have imagined, so Oliver finally let his bow down and unaligned the arrow to be placed back in its quiver. His left arm felt sprained and he had bruises running along his legs and back, but the most annoying wound was the cut along his forehead that went down to his cheek. If it weren't for his mask, Oliver was sure that blood would be dripping into his eyes.

"Felicity, make sure SCPD knows-" a sudden car explosion cut him off and made Felicity's response impossible to hear before he continued. "Make sure they know that the T-sphere attached to Desmond's temple is the only thing keeping him from transforming. Send a message to S.T.A.R. Labs to work with Iron Heights on-"

"Oliver! Supergirl is down, she needs your help right now!"

Oliver paused as his brain tried to take in what Felicity just told him. "What are you talking about?"

"Supergirl was overwhelmed by Carmichael and his men. She managed to escape but she only got a few miles before she stopped. I think she passed out! You have to get to her before Carmichael's men do!" Felicity's words were registering with Oliver but for some reason he couldn't think or move. Supergirl? She was supposed to be invincible...

"Oliver, I overheard some of the fight on the comlink, the sick bastard wouldn't stop talking about d-dissecting K-Kara-"

"Where is she?"

***

The first thing she noticed was that she felt better. The pain in her ribs was fading, and the cut along her cheek was closing up, though her fingers still came up red when she touched it. The arm that had been shot was still in pain but the bone didn't feel unbearably hot anymore. Whatever that creature had done to her powers was clearly temporary. Pushing herself up to sit, Kara ran her fingers through her hair and worked out the dirt and asphalt that had collected there.

Glancing around, she could see that she was on some sort of road, a highway maybe. There was nothing but grass and farmland in every direction. She had a vague recollection of heading north but she didn't remember crashing here or passing out. Kara kept trying to shake the cobwebs from her brain and could feel her memory coming back piece by piece.

"Felicity, are you there?" she asked, pressing the button on her earpiece but only getting static in return. "Great."

She turned and focused her telescopic vision and saw that Star City was in the distance, probably only 15 miles or so. That was when she remembered. She had started heading toward Star City to get help from Oliver and his team. Why she didn't just try and contact them on the com, she couldn't be sure of the answer, but to be fair she'd been in a lot of pain. She remembered seeing Alex, standing there in that warehouse, urging her to fight. She knew it was a hallucination or something but Kara felt grateful nonetheless.

"I owe you one sis," she whispered to herself. "I promise to buy you ten bottles of that gross red wine you like so much when I get back home."

Kara stood, about to take off into the air and start flying again, when she heard a sudden crack. In a panic she reached down to her ribs to feel them for any breaks but other than some soreness, they felt fine. She looked up and saw, only because of her super speed, a large six inch long bullet flying toward her head. It would have hit right between her eyes but Kara managed to move back in time to swing her arm out and catch it.

The bullet ripped through her palm and out the back of her hand before Kara felt a heavy weight pressing down on her chest, right where Oliver had showed her her breathing earlier that day. For the second time today Kara felt like it was difficult to breathe, but rather than a tight, strangling feeling all around her chest, it was the focused pain of one spot, right in the dead center of her heart. Every time she tried to take a breath she felt her chest crying out in protest as the bullet shifted. She fell to her knees and looked down to see more than half of the bullet sticking out.

"Like a door hanger," she whispered, giggling to herself in fear as she saw in the distance two military vehicles heading toward her. Her x-ray vision showed Carmichael in one, while the torso of one of his men was sticking out of a moon roof, holding a rifle.

She still had a chance to fly away. They wouldn't get to here for another minute, maybe two, but Kara couldn't make herself move. She held her hand up to her face and stared at the hole in her palm, paralyzed by the sight of smoke and gunpowder flaking off with dried blood. These bullets could kill her, she realized. They weren't just a difficulty to overcome but a real threat to her life. She wanted to be brave but... she was in so much pain...

"Well, good effort."

In what seemed like only a second, Carmichael was there, blue-striped pistol in his hand as he stood over her. She wished more than anything that she hadn't fallen to her knees from the pain because now it looked like she was kneeling to this monster. That blow to her pride was almost as painful as the one in her chest. Almost.

"You'd better kill me... kill me now... because I will never... never stop fighting," Kara gritted in between breaths, channeling some voice she didn't know but that sounded a bit like Alex.

"Are you kidding me? You're one of a kind Supergirl," Carmichael leered. "I've heard all kinds of stories about you from your Earth. There's no way I would waste this opportunity by killing you in the street like some injured animal." 

"Wait, Mr Thinker sir, that's exactly what you-"

"Benjy."

One of the henchman pulled out his Gravity Gun and fired. Kara flinched, but saw that the other henchman who dared to speak suddenly had a hole in his chest the size of a pumpkin. It was clear-through and Kara could see the clean, burned edges all around the circular hole before the man fell back without a word.

"I hate talking out of turn. It interrupts my thinking!" Carmichael shouted at the rest of the men. They nodded and backed away in deference. "Anyway... now you see what my Gravity Gun can do to a normal human I guess. Really shows the elegance of it, don't you think?"

"You're... a madman..." Kara managed.

"Not a great thing to say to your new employer. Once I figure out how to neutralize your powers that is, then you'll be a total kitten. You'll see. You'll like working for me, like my Floronic Man! You can do some good work before I cut out your heart and crack open your brain."

"I'm... not... afraid of you..." Kara managed to smile then as Carmichael frowned. He was trying to break her, make her... submit to him or something. The fact that she kept fighting bothered him. He wanted to infantilize her struggle, minimize her strength, make her feel small.

Weak men always tried to exercise power over women.

"We'll see," Carmichael sneered, grabbing her throat. He tried to choke her but her invulnerability was still working and she barely felt it. "I find that everyone loses their courage once they start bleeding."

"I agree!" A deep voice shouted.

Carmichael was suddenly pushed back, screaming as an arrow jutted out of his shoulder. He grabbed the shaft and pulled, causing himself to scream even more while drops of blood fell to the ground in front of Kara. She thought some of it might have even splashed on her face.

"What the hell!?" Thinker shoued as he gave up on pulling the arrow out.

"Clifford Carmichael, step away from Supergirl before I put... you... down..." Green Arrow threatened as he aimed another shot. He was sitting on a motorcycle, the bike still rolling to a stop as he aimed. (Had he fired the first shot while driving? That didn't seem safe.)

Kara suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see "Fair Play" written across the arm of a jacket before Curtis's face came into view. He was saying something but she couldn't hear it as he helped her stand.

"Really!? The Green Arrow!? You've gotta be kidding me!" Thinker whined before backing up and pointing at Oliver. "Kill him! Whoever brings me his head gets 100K!"

She wanted to warn him about the Gravity Guns but the henchmen were already shooting, drowning out her voice. Oliver jumped off the bike and dove to the side of the road, shooting two arrows in mid-air before he hit the grass. One arrow hit a man in the knee while the other hit a man in the arm, causing him to drop his gun. Two other men were still firing shots, making the ground explode in flourishes of dirt, like dozens of mines going off at once.

"What are you doing!? He's human! Use the M4s you idiots!"

The henchmen started switching to the machine guns that they had strapped over their shoulders but Oliver took the chance to fire off two more arrows. One missed but the other went through a man's arm, pinning it to his side so he couldn't use the two-handed weapon. Oliver stood and started running forward, fear absent from his face as the other man started shooting. Shots rang all around Oliver but none of them hit as he rolled and ran from side to side before he came face to face with the man and struck him in the temple with his bow.

The man with the arrow through his hand threw a punch that Oliver ducked before jumping up and wrapping his legs around the man's neck. Oliver then pulled himself up by his legs and punched the man in the face, knocking him out before rolling forward, throwing a limp body with his legs at the man with an arrow through his leg who had been about to fire his machine gun. Oliver stood up then and aimed an arrow at Carmichael, as if the past twenty seconds of fighting hadn't happened.

"Last chance. Put down your weapons and come quietly."

"A bow and arrow. What a common weapon..." Carmichael muttered. "Fine, she's not worth all this. Benjy!"

Kara shoved Curtis aside and closed her eyes before she put her hand up, ready to have a matching hole in her left hand. A shadow passed over her then and the pain didn't come. She looked up and saw a hooded figure standing before her, dozens of long shreds of fabric surrounding her as they moved and shook. One of them was holding the Gravity Gun that Carmichael's man had been aiming before it crushed the gun into a pancake. Or a crepe.

"Damn it!" Carmichael screamed before a second arrow was suddenly lodged in his other shoulder, this time from behind. Instead of screaming, Carmichael started gulping air like a fish, as if he couldn't believe what had happened.

"The next one goes in your eye..." Oliver growled as he stepped forward. "Where is the alien device? Hand it over!"

"You don't... you don't even understand... the scientific potential..."

"I understand that it's a weapon. I understand that you're using it to gather resources and allies too dangerous for any one man to have," Oliver responded, the point of his arrow now pressing down on Carmichael's neck, drawing blood. "I understand that you're just a bully who failed out of school and had to become a two-bit thug. Now this device gives you the chance to feel like a big man and make up for your own personal failures."

Kara saw that, somehow, this insult hurt more than the arrows in his shoulders. The man who called himself the Thinker shrieked like an animal before he kicked out at Oliver, taking him by surprise. Oliver had dodged the kick and aimed an arrow at Carmichael again, a step back, but Carmichael had managed to pull the Zoltam device out of his pocket and press a button on the control pad he'd attached. She wanted to warn Oliver but it was too late. 

A hole opened under him and he started falling before an arrow shot out into the sky, a long cable trailing behind it. One of Ragman's tentacles gripped that cable and managed to pull Oliver out of the hole and fling him into the air where he flipped and landed in a crouch facing Kara before he turned around.

"You're going to have to do a lot better than cheap tricks."

"I wasn't trying to trick you, that was a bonus. I was summoning her."

Crawling out of the hole was a woman, covered in a skintight bronze suit with gold fabrics across her arms and chest and covering her face. Strapped to her back were two swords, straight unlike a Japanese Katana but still sharp looking. The woman pulled the swords off her back as she faced Oliver in some sort of weird crouch that made him respond by crouching as well.

"This one is actually from our Earth. After the League of Assassins disbanded, hiring one of its members became dirt cheap," Carmichael laughed before saying something to the woman in a language that Kara didn't recognize.

"My name is Onyx. I gain no pleasure from your death, but I am honor bound. Do you understand?" she asked Oliver.

"I understand. Do you?"

"KILL HIM ALREADY!"

The woman started swinging at Oliver and he ducked before it all became a blur to Kara. Oliver seemed to know what he was doing, so she trusted that the situation was handled.

"Ragman, you have to get that device!"

"I can't, my orders are to protect you."

Kara was about to rebuke that she wasn't in danger anymore when she noticed that another truck had pulled up, three men getting out and firing those Gravity Guns. They were all aiming for her, clearly not yet understanding what had happened here, and Rory was the only thing stopping her from getting all new pin cushions to match the one in her chest. Curtis was by her side too, scanning her with something that said "S.T.A.R. Labs" on the back before he started putting some salve stuff on her cheek and arm.

Meanwhile no one was helping Oliver!

"This gel that Caitlin Snow developed should help the healing process speed up, assuming your physiology is close enough to The Flash. Guess this is as good a time as any to find out," he babbled.

"Curtis, I'll be fine," she argued, gripping him by the arm so she could get his attention. "You need to help Oliver."

"Uhh... that's a former League of Assassin assassin that he's fighting. He doesn't need my help. He needs me to stay out of the way," as he spoke, Kara could see that Oliver was still fighting the woman, though at some point he had lost his bow and... and the arrows in his quiver had been cut in half! The quiver itself looked like it was only hanging on by one strap!

Rory and Curtis were too focused on her. Oliver was fighting for his life and that monster Carmichael still had the device! Kara's vision was blurry and she felt hot around the forehead and neck but she had to keep going. She x-rayed through Curtis and Rory to look for Carmichael but she couldn't see him. One of the trucks was backing up and driving away and when Kara looked in, she saw that Carmichael was in the driver's seat, the device in the passenger seat.

"Mistake..." Kara whispered to herself. In a car his guns would be harder to use and the device would be out of reach. She could come up behind him, lift the car up, dump him out the passenger window, and get the device. She waited until there was a lull in the gunfire before she flew up, ready to use whatever strength she had left to end this once and for all.

Except the moment she was in the air, Kara couldn't help but look over at Oliver and saw that he was on his back, Onyx putting one of her swords at his throat. The other was up in the air and even Kara could recognize that she was about to swing it down and cut Oliver's throat. Without a moment's hesitation, without a thought to what had transpired earlier tonight; the Gravity Guns, the Floronic Man, using her heat vision to the extreme like that, Kara acted on instinct and flew forward, standing in the middle of Oliver and Onyx as she swung her sword.

Down from her right shoulder to below her left hip, Kara felt the blade slice through her suit and then deeper. Warm blood splashed down her legs, making it feel like she'd stepped into a hot puddle. Strangely, this was somehow less painful than the Inertron bullets or her ribs being crushed. It didn't even feel like her body when Kara gripped the long wound, acting instinctively to hold her wound closed before all of her insides leaked out.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

The woman backed up and flicked her sword with her wrist, blood splashing onto the road. Kara was on her knees (again dammit!) and was about to fall when strong arms held her up. Someone was whispering her name and she wondered if Alex would be able to guide her through this.

"Extraordinary. That felt like cutting through stone. The special blades that man granted me have done all that he promised and more," the assassin explained before looking to Oliver. "What is this woman? Surely she is no human. Somehow she lives, even as she's struck through."

"You don't have time to wonder," Oliver growled. "You'll be dead soon."

"Please, I could kill all of you in a matter of seconds."

"Show me."

New hands gripped Kara by the shoulders as Oliver stood, walking toward Onyx with a calm that made everything go silent. The assassin woman nodded before swinging at Oliver, but this time instead of spinning and dodging like he did before, Oliver simply ducked before pushing on her hip to knock her off balance. The woman turned and attacked again, and again Oliver dodged with minimal effort. She turned and swung both swords at once in a cross motion, which Oliver dodged again but this time he punched at one of her hands, causing the two blades to knock together awkwardly before she stumbled and fell face first into the ground.

Onyx turned, screaming in Oliver's face... until he pressed a sword to her throat. At some point when she'd tripped, Oliver had stolen one of hers. The woman backed up before pulling down the gold veil around her mouth, showing small scars along her left eye and on her chin. She was sort of pretty but the harshness in her face cut through that.

"You... you are Al-Sahim, the true warith al Ghul..." she said with wonder in her voice.

Oliver was obviously not impressed. He pressed forward with the attack, which she blocked. Then he turned into the block so his back was facing the assassin before he thrust his stolen sword backwards by his hip, cutting the woman along her side. As she cried out, he took her other hand and turned once more, now holding both swords. The woman had fallen to her knees and faced two swords crossed in front of her neck.

"On any so called honor you have left, surrender and vow to me that you'll never return to my city," Oliver announced in a voice that wasn't harsher than his usual "Green Arrow growl" but was somehow colder. "Or I will cut your throat right here and grant you the true freedom."

"I submit," the woman responded. Oliver lifted the swords and let her stand before she nodded and limped away, to disappear into the shadows.

"Oliver... you didn't kill her," Kara gurgled, tasting blood in the corner of her mouth as she smiled.

"Never mind that," he responded in his regular "Oliver" voice, removing his mask and hood before gripping her by the face. "You're going to be okay Kara, stay with me."

"... you know... this might not be very progressive of me... but you are crazy attractive... when you..."

And then she passed out.

***

"You're almost done Oliver, just keep up pressure."

Like swimming through a pool of syrup... or rocks, Oliver pressed harder, nodding his head as he stared down at Kara's chest, split open down the middle. The cut was so deep, he could see hint of bone and other colors that he didn't want to think about. Anyone else with wounds like these would have died by now, but this was Supergirl. The rules of his world didn't apply to her.

Except somehow they did. When they had come across Kara dirty, bloody, but alive, Oliver was concerned that they were dealing with metahumans, powerful beings strong enough to hurt the Girl of Steel. But guns and swords? Those were supposed to be below Kara's eye-line. Oliver had gone through many awful deaths over the years and every one of them had left their mark, but this one caught him completely off-guard. Some part of him understood that Kara was still a living thing that was born and therefore could die, and yet...

"Thirty more seconds."

Kara's wound definitely looked better. There was still a long slash, longer than anything he had on his body, but the top and bottom were closed and appeared healed. The more worrying center points, above her heart and below her ribs, seemed to be sealing up as well. He should have known better than to be surprised anymore. The rules had changed after Barry.

The heart monitor they'd strapped to Kara was now beeping steadily, her breathing mask was on and clear, and most importantly she wouldn't need anymore blood. When Oliver had brought her into the Bunker, his first worry had been for the amount of blood she lost. After placing her on the operating table, Oliver had gone to one of the cabinets on instinct to grab an IV bag and give Kara some of his own. He stopped when Felicity quietly pointed out that they didn't even know if Kara's blood type matched any human, let alone his.

It all became too bizarre when Felicity explained the "light gun" that S.T.A.R. Labs had invented to help Kara with medical issues. Apparently Kara's abilities were solar-powered and when the light frequency was altered, it could effectively take away her powers and make her human. Yellow helped make her stronger and added extra energy to her abilities, while red did the opposite. The red light had allowed Caitlin Snow to operate on a leg that Kara had broken a few days ago despite her invulnerability. Felicity had felt they needed to do something similar to the bullet in Kara's chest.

"Look, I don't know what kind of damage something like that might do, but I do know we have to get it out," she'd reasoned after first aiming the light gun at Kara's abdomen. For a moment it seemed like nothing was happening but when Oliver looked closely, he could actually see in real-time the flesh knitting itself closed where the yellow light was pointed. Once he saw it was working, Oliver had stopped numbly holding onto Kara's wound and actively started focusing on keeping it closed. His mind was still somewhere else when Felicity spoke again.

"The problem is it's in there deep, so Kara's invulnerability will make getting it like pulling a tooth out of a monster truck," Felicity had continued explaining while Curtis walked past her, scanning Kara with their field MRI to check for any other bullets or surprises. "We need to use the red light to take make her less Girl of Steel and more normal GSW victim."

"Felicity... her powers are the only thing keeping her alive," as soon as Oliver said it he knew it was true. Even when he was just carrying her to the van, Curtis in the driver's seat while Rory rode Oliver's motorcycle, he assumed that he was merely transporting Kara's corpse. The fact that she was still breathing proved she was an alien demigod. The wound had been so deep...

"I don't know if its fast healing or just her... organs being made of steel or something, but if we turn off her powers, she will fall apart," Oliver could barely stomach the words as he said them out loud. "She was worse on the street Felicity, you didn't see it. She managed to start healing on the way over here. Her powers are the only reason there's still something to save."

"I know, I get that, but Oliver this thing is focused. It won't take away her powers, just disrupt them in one spot. We do it quick, get the bullet, and then we put her back on good old yellow."

"I'll help put pressure on the bleeding," Rene had stepped up. "I know a trick for bullets. You take a bullet out and the hole usually gushes, but I know how to keep that from happening. Supergirl's lost too much blood as is."

Oliver hesitated for only a moment before he nodded. He had to trust them. Right now he was being compromised by fear and his own guilt. Rene took over holding pressure around the bullet while Oliver backed up, about to press his hands against his lips in worry before he realized they were covered in Kara's blood.

"Alright, I'll switch the light to red on 3. When I do that, immediately start trying to pull the bullet out. The moment you get it, Oliver will put pressure back on the wound and I'll switch the light to yellow again."

Felicity counted while Oliver waited, reflexes alert. Curtis and Rory looked similarly worried. Curtis shook his head, indicating that no other bullets were found on the MRI. Rory had pulled the crash cart over, just in case, though whether a defibrillator could actually affect Kara was a whole other can of grave worms.

"1... 2... 3!" Felicity aimed the light at Kara's chest, flicking the setting to red as Rene instantly started trying to pull the bullet out. At first it didn't budge. Rene planted his foot on the table to get leverage, but it still wouldn't move. Oliver could visibly see that the healing had stopped. At the same time, a few spots below Kara's chest began to bleed more freely, as if the blood had suddenly thinned.

"Guys..."

"Wait, it's almost out!" Rene shouted. A second later they all heard the audible squish of wet flesh as the bullet slipped out. Rene quickly pressed his thumb down on the wound and turned it, making the skin there twist and tighten to cut off any blood flow.

"Ew!" Felicity shouted.

"I didn't say my trick was fancy, just that it worked."

"Felicity switch it back!" Oliver cut in.

Oliver went back to holding Kara's wound while Felicity continued running the now yellow light gun over Kara. That had been the worst of it. Now as Kara seemed in the clear, the numbness started to set in for Oliver. Questions that he didn't want the answer to kept running through his mind and answers that he knew were true tortured him every second.

"Alright. Oliver, check her neck to make sure we got everything."

Oliver nodded and, without thinking, took a flechette out of one of the field containers on his shoulder, cutting up along the slash in Kara's costume to open the collar and see her neck. Thankfully there was only caked blood and dirt there, no other wounds. Looking at the rest of the wide slice, Oliver saw that some of the edges around Kara's shoulder and hip were already fully healed. There wasn't even scarring. The healing process was advancing around her heart and navel as well, where Felicity had focused the yellow light more prominently. Looking at her now, Oliver would have guessed Kara had been in the hospital for weeks. The smaller wounds like the cut on her cheek and the bullet hole on her arm were practically gone.

"Thank god..." Oliver whispered, leaning forward to press his hand down on Kara's wound again and take a breath of relief.

"Um... Oliver..."

He looked at Felicity to see her cringing with one eye shut, pointing a finger gingerly at his hands. Oliver looked down and realized he had been too distracted by the sheets of blood to notice Kara's... chest. His fingers were over her collarbone while his palm was flat against the area between her breasts. Even his other hand was guilty, braced on the table near her side with his fingers pressed over Kara's exposed hip.

"Right, sorry," he whispered with a bitter laugh, letting Kara go and stepping back from the table. For a fearful moment he expected her wounds to burst open and bleed anew, but actually with some distance, he saw that she was mostly healed. At least externally.

"Thanks Felicity, good looking out for a sister."

Both Oliver and Felicity jumped at the same time to see Kara, bags under her eyes and blood on her teeth, smiling and alive.

"Kara are you alright?" Oliver asked instinctively, even as he marveled at how dumb that question was.

"I could be worse. If it wasn't for you," Kara whispered, struggling a bit to lift her arm up before she pulled off her oxygen mask. She managed to get a breath then and let out a small grunt of laughter. "Thanks for that by the way. And thanks for not coping a feel when you had the chance."

"You're welcome," and Oliver smiled back even as he felt like garbage in his gut. "And you're welcome."

"Okay... so now that we acknowledged that... Felicity?"

"Yes! I mean, yes?"

"Do a girl a favor..." Kara reached up to point until she saw the blood covering her hand and put it back down. "Get me something to cover myself? There are men folk about."

"Sure thing," Felicity laughed before walking away.

Oliver moved back until he felt Kara's hand grip his, both of them covered in her blood. 

"Don't leave."

"I thought... you're exposed Kara."

"Then continue to be a good guy and not look."

Oliver nodded and crouched down, Kara still holding his hand. He kept his eyes focused on her face, glancing over his shoulder for a moment to check on the team. Rory was gone while Curtis was talking to Rene by the weapons cabinet. He and Kara were alone for the most part. Oliver knew better than to say something, now of all times, but he just couldn't leave this alone for the sake of his sanity.

"Kara-"

"You know, I don't think I care for the beat in this song," she interrupted.

"What?" Oliver worried for a moment that her mind might have been affected somehow. "What song?"

"This one, just listen," Kara held her hand up and gestured to the heart monitor. "Boop... boop... boop... I mean, who can dance to this?"

Oliver chuckled. "Well, you always struck me as a slow dance kind of girl anyway."

"You are a detective Mr. Queen..." she teased, smiling more but then sensing he wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Listen, don't-"

"Kara, I am so sorry." It was his turn to interrupt.

"-say exactly that..." she sighed. "Come on Oliver, you saved my life."

"Only after I let you go off on your own," Oliver rebutted, looking away from Kara to stare at the case that usually held his Green Arrow suit. "I should have known better. I never let anyone on my team operate without backup."

"I'm on your team now?"

"When you're here, yes, you're on my team," Oliver turned back to her and saw that there were tears in her eyes. He knew those tears weren't really about this conversation though.

"Oliver..." she scolded in a tone that almost reminded him of his mother. She followed that up with a gesture that also reminded Oliver of his mother; gently running the back of her fingers over his cheek. "I am a grown woman who makes her own choices. I have been a hero on my own Earth for almost two years now. I've gotten hurt. I'll get hurt again. This is not on you."

"I've heard all these arguments before-"

"And you should listen to them. Taking responsibility for my injuries is almost insulting to a fellow superhero," she quipped.

"That's just it, it's not about that. I know all of that. Your life, your choice, I've gone through this with my team countless times," Oliver explained before he reached down and pulled some dried blood from Kara's hair, smoothing the strands out of her face afterward. "It's different with you. I didn't... I didn't worry for you. At all. I just thought... she's Supergirl, nothing can hurt her. I didn't give any thought to you, didn't give any thought to the danger. If even one person had been there to back you up... you almost died Kara! Has that ever happened to you before?"

"Of course it has Oliver-"

"Then that proves my point. You're not immortal, you're not a god, I need to stop treating you like one."

"On that we agree."

"You're a person and people get hurt," Oliver continued. "I didn't... I didn't treat you like a person."

Kara was silent then. Oliver thought she would say something but after a while she just kept looking at him and even moved her head to the side a bit, her hair dragging behind to look like a wave of gold that crashed and foamed around her face. Even pale and clammy, with sharp lines around her cheeks from an obvious amount of blood loss and shock, Oliver was struck by how pretty Kara was. He had seen the steel underneath countless times, but it was still hard for him to accept that such a powerful being could also be so gentle.

"You're a bit of a doof, aren't you?"

"I'm a- what?" he asked, letting go of her hand and standing up a bit.

"You can't just turn your brain off," Kara continued, sitting up so they would be at eye-level. He began to protest but she waved him off, indicating with her hand that the wound was mostly closed, at least externally. "Oliver, you made an assumption. Maybe that's a failing as a... general or whatever, but as a human that's fine. I do it all the time. Heck I did it alongside you! I thought nothing on this Earth could hurt me and not only was I proven wrong, I nearly lost my life for the mistake. MY mistake."

"Kara-"

"So you making a mistake is some great sin while me making a mistake is just... what, expected?"

"No I-"

"I got overconfident. I blundered into a situation. Maybe backup would have helped, but hey, I'm the one who told you that I could go alone. Are you really saying you only let me do that because you thought I was invincible? Or was it because you trusted my judgement?" Kara paused then, looking down at herself to make sure her hands were adequately covering her chest before grumbling, "I warn you, there is a right answer."

Oliver just stared. This woman had been nearly bifurcated, her body only held together by bones, tendons, and Oliver's desperate grip. Not only had she survived but it hadn't even shaken her. Color was returning to her cheeks and Kara gave Oliver a crooked smile before she blinked and tried to turn that smile into a frown. She raised one eyebrow and leaned forward, as if indicating for him to continue, but he didn't have the faintest idea what he was supposed to say. Oliver guessed that lots of men forgot how to speak when they were around Kara Danvers.

Feeling the smile before he could stop it, Oliver nodded. "You seem better so I'll get out of your hair."

"You didn't answer my question!" She said in a sing-song voice.

"Because I learned a long time ago how to avoid traps," he responded, lowering his hand and gently tapping Kara's elbow with his finger for a quick beat before standing up and walking away.

Felicity was standing at the foot of the stairs, actively looking away from Oliver's eyes while holding in a smile and probably a joke. How long she'd been standing there Oliver couldn't be sure, but he noticed that the towel she was holding had been folded and refolded multiple times.

"Not a word."

"You got it boss!" Felicity only ever called him boss when she felt particularly superior. He made his escape to the sink they had by the gym.

Washing the blood off of his hands, Oliver wondered at the smile he felt himself fighting. His hands were literally drenched in the blood of another woman who he had led astray, yet somehow his shoulders felt light of guilt. It helped that he could hear Kara and Felicity talking, laughing... but there was something else too. Oliver felt in general lighter. When Barry had first introduced him to Kara, he'd gotten a quick sense for why they were friends. People with that kind of light in them often gravitated toward each other, and light like that always made Oliver's problems feel a little bit cleaner.

"Avocado shampoo, that's what it was." Oliver whispered to himself.

The elevator door opened behind him and Oliver glanced over his shoulder to see who it was. A split-second of surprise gave way to five years of instinct when he saw the bronze scales across her chest. Her hair was short, cut into a shaggy style of layered black and brown highlights. A pair of kukri knife scars around the right eye and an old burn on the chin were familiar, but what gave her away were the eyes. He always took time to remember the eyes of people who tried to kill him. Oliver reached over to the weapons cabinet and grabbed the first thing he could find, a sword, and hopped the railing to face her. The sword was meant for practice so the edges were dulled but the point could still pierce something.

None of it was necessary though because the woman then fell forward, landing on her stomach while her arms were wrapped behind her back. Though she grunted when she fell to the ground, nothing about her body language screamed active resistance. Ragman stepped forward from behind her, one hand holding the rags that were tying the woman up by the wrists.

"I found her lurking outside. Lured her to the alley and brought her here," Ragman explained, pulling up on the bindings so she had to face them on one knee.

"Here? Why would you bring her here? Now this place is compromised."

"Actually boss... she already knew. When I cornered her, she asked me to bring her to you. You you, Oliver Queen you."

Oliver frowned at that news and his frown deepened when he saw Kara walking over, a towel wrapped around her chest like she had just gotten out of the shower, though she still had the tatters of her suit on underneath. Felicity was at least supporting her while they walked, which made Oliver grateful. Rene and Curtis followed closely behind.

Analyzing the situation, Oliver decided that the best course for now was the slow and cautious one. He walked forward and pressed the point of his sword to her throat before speaking in his best impression of Al-Sahim, the man Oliver no longer wanted to be.

"You were given explicit instructions. Give me one reason not to take what is owed to me right now."

"Because I do not come offering death, but instead a trade," the woman responded, bowing her head for a moment in deference before looking up again. "I can help you find the Thinker's base of operations. I can take you to his home."

"Wait, he has a home base?" Felicity asked.

"Indeed well-dressed one," she turned back to Oliver while Felicity glanced down at her own outfit, a white-knit top with some sort of striped skirt. "Every rat needs its hole and I have been to his, through the portals he creates. I don't know its exact location but I can help you find it. Then you can take the fight to him."

"And we should believe you?" Oliver asked, lifting the sword away from her throat but not changing his position.

"My life is forfeit to you, I have no other reason to come here. And..." the woman reached up and started unzipping her bronze suit, down her chest and toward her and ending above her groin. Felicity and Kara bumbled words in embarrassment while Rory looked up at the ceiling. Oliver stayed focused though.

Starting around her left nipple and moving down her side, across her ribs and then pulling across her navel and to her right hip, were multiple purple and brown splotches, bruising that Oliver had seen before. Curtis and Rene were looking as well, even stepping forward in front of Felicity and Kara to get a better look. Rene still looked confused but Curtis understood.

"Oh my god..."

"So you can see," the woman named Onyx continued, eyes closed in shame at Curtis's utterance before she opened them again. "I am in need of help. And if I am beyond helping... at least providing you information might lead to my vengeance against that accursed little vermin for doing this to me."

"I trust her," Kara spoke first, startling everyone else yet somehow Oliver wasn't surprised.

"Isn't this the chick who opened you up like a shrimp?" Rene asked.

"Yes! Thank you very much Rene!" Kara gave him a painful eye roll. "But I believed her when she said it wasn't personal. And we have to help her."

"We do?!" Rene asked with even more attitude.

"Being a hero isn't about picking and choosing. We help everyone."

There was a pause as they all chewed on that before looking to Onyx and then Oliver. He missed this communal decision making process though, as Oliver only had eyes for Kara. There were no words left. She had broken through to something inside of him and for the first time in a long time, Oliver imagined Kara alone, warm, and smiling, and warm, and holding out her arms to him. He blinked and she was instead staring at him, bags still under her eyes with a towel from his personal shower (Felicity argued that it was a communal shower but it wasn't) wrapped around her chest.

"Oliver?" Kara asked gently.

"Ha, well... you all heard Supergirl. We help everyone."

***

Kara fidgeted with her hair a bit as she looked at the computer screen where Felicity had pulled up four different locations marked on a map of the Continental U.S. She was just glad that this Thinker didn't have his base of operations, or his "Laboratory" as he called it according to Onyx, in some place far away like the Ukraine or Australia. She rubbed her arm as she felt Oliver pacing behind her again. She understood that he was just trying to think but feeling the movement behind her made her increasingly nervous.

She inconspicuously pulled on the bottom of the dress for the fiftieth time, trying futilely to make it hang anywhere close to her knees. After her super suit had been cut to pieces, Kara had asked to borrow some clothing and Felicity provided a turquoise, textured dress without any sleeves. It fit beautifully and was more comfortable than twenty puppies in a bed of kitten kisses, probably more expensive too, but Kara had a few inches on Felicity in height. The bottom of the dress was particularly... high. And it was already a pretty short dress! Kara appreciated that Felicity liked wearing such clothing but Kara had always been in favor of more conservative fashion choices. At any moment she was sure Oliver would see her butt.

Because apparently Felicity didn't have a single pair of extra underwear!

"Maybe we can narrow the locations down by timeline," Oliver offered. "Maybe one closed earlier or later than the others."

"No, the Board of Directors sold all four textile factories in a general asset liquidation after the stock market crashed," Felicity explained, pulling up more records of the company.

"Galaxy Corporation... we definitely don't have one of those on my Earth." Kara mentioned again though her mind was still focused on the breeze she felt on her thighs.

"It must be a place that he had before he found the Zoltam device. Somewhere he would feel comfortable bringing it early on. He wasn't born in any of these cities?" Oliver asked.

"No, Clifford Carmichael was born in Los Angeles, California."

"Ugh, of course that was where he was born. Only Hollywood could create such a monster."

Though Kara was joking, it was true that Carmichael, The Thinker as he now called himself, was possibly one of the worst people Kara had ever met. After Oliver decided they would help Onyx, the woman warrior had explained that the cause of her bruising was from Radiation Poisoning. Apparently, part of what made Inertron such a dense substance and pack such a powerful punch was that it was highly radioactive.

"Oh my god!" Felicity had shouted before running off. Oliver had ignored it and asked Onyx to continue.

"I only recently found this out. I had assumed that my recent blackouts, my nausea, was from some sort of internal injury I had received at the hands of a worthy enemy," Onyx had gritted her teeth as she looked down at her hands, sitting in a chair by the weapons station. "Instead it was this Thinker. The swords he provided me were made of the toxic mineral. Every moment I used them, fought with them, even wore them on my back... he was slowly poisoning me."

"Maybe he doesn't know," Curtis offered.

"No, he knows," Kara thought back to her ordeal in Bludhaven. "He threatened to shoot me a couple of times, but he never actually pulled the trigger on his Gravity Guns. In fact, he always asked one of his men to take a shot. He had to know the bullets were radioactive and he didn't want to expose himself. He's just exposing anyone who works with him because, that's fine I guess."

Felicity had come back at that point, wearing a lead apron and gloves as she picked up Onyx's swords that Oliver brought into the bunker, as well as the crushed remains of the Gravity Gun that Rory had brought and the bullet that had been pulled from Kara's chest. She picked them up carefully with her fingers and walked them away while Oliver nodded and then stood up, speaking for the first time since he'd decided they would help Onyx.

"He brought you to his home base?"

Onyx had looked at Oliver with mistrust, causing Kara to almost say something about Oliver's honor compared to the former assassin's, but then she held her tongue. The woman was already dying, there was no need to shame her.

"You promise. I help you, you help me."

"You have my word."

"Then it is agreed Al-Sahim," she had nodded. "Every time he brought me there with one of his portals, I never got to see the outside or any landmarks. But one day I took a look at one of his computers, and the serial number on the hard drive was registered to a Galaxy Corporation, circa 2007. He must be in one of their abandoned factories."

After a few more questions about her time with Carmichael, Oliver apparently decided that they had enough and asked Rene and Rory to escort Onyx to S.T.A.R. Labs. After handing them all Potassium Iodide tablets (and insisting she watch as they swallowed it), Felicity called ahead to make sure Cisco and Caitlin would be ready for Onyx. She also quickly whispered that they should call a man named Ray to help them out. Oliver reminded Kara of the Atom then, who had fought with them during the Invasion. Apparently Ray was also a gifted scientist, though Kara had trouble picturing him as such. He resembled Clark too much.

"Four locations... she gave us four locations..." Oliver thought out loud, bring Kara's mind back to the present. "We can't check all four. This guy, he plans everything ahead. He'll have something in place at the other three locations, some sort of fail-safe or warning system. If we choose wrong he'll abandon his home base and we'll lose him."

"Well unfortunately all four are still receiving power from their city grids, so there's nothing to detect there, and there are no news reports or crime bulletins talking about the area. He's played it cool when it comes to coming and going," Felicity sighed and sat back, placing her elbow on the chair's armrest and holding her chin in her palm.

"He's altered the Zoltam device to create breaches, he probably never goes through the front door anymore," Kara answered.

"Hey..."

Suddenly Kara felt a warm pressure on her back and she instantly panicked, stepping forward and then holding down the bottom of her dress. She turned to see Oliver with his hand up in the air like he'd accidentally burned it. She realized that she'd overreacted but her brain wasn't as quick at coming up with an explanation, so she just stared at Oliver while he stared back and Felicity stared at both of them.

"Sorry, I just... I'm not wearing a bra and I feel very... um... when you touched my back I thought you would know so I... just... told you..." Kara didn't understand who was saying these things. "I do normally wear underwear but I... mine was... you know... it was destroyed when I..."

"Oh girl, oh girl, sometimes you gotta just shut up," Felicity groaned. "Am I this uncomfortable to be around when I word-vomit?"

"You learn to adjust," Oliver answered, putting his hands behind his back and nodding at Kara before continuing. "I was just going to ask, did Carmichael say anything to you, anything at all, that might help us here? Maybe it was something meaningless and inconsequential at the time."

Kara nodded vigorously, glad that Oliver had let go of the underwear talk. Pulling down on the back of the dress again, she thought back on the warehouse and everything that happened, before and after she saw that vision of Alex. The Thinker had talked a lot, made a lot of threats, he had even known her name and mentioned visiting her Earth. Talking about this Earth though...

She walked away from Oliver and Felicity to the plate of pot stickers they'd ordered earlier, popping one in her mouth while she thought. There was only three left but that was fine. They had ordered two separate pot sticker plates, one for the group and one specifically for Kara, so technically this was her first from the group plate. When Curtis offered to order something, he and Felicity had voted for tacos while she and Oliver voted Chinese. Kara pulled the "I just recently almost died" card, making her vote count twice.

That's when something clicked.

"Hey, you guys have Big Belly Burger, right?"

"For sure. Cisco says they're in every universe," Felicity answered.

"What about Flop Burger?"

There was a pause before Felicity suddenly started typing and Oliver leaned over her chair.

"That's the place-"

"Uh-huh," Felicity interrupted excitedly.

"-we had the fight-"

"Uh-huh!"

"-and later made up with-"

"Bingo!"

Kara walked over to see that they only had one location on the screen now. "You got it?"

"Flop Burger is a smaller chain that is only located in the North East, specifically Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and certain parts of Connecticut and Rhode Island," Felicity recited. "And in Connecticut is a little suburb called Ivy Town, where two Flop Burgers are located as well as one abandoned Galaxy Corporation factory, aka, the home of the Douche previously known as The Thinker."

"We still have that house," Oliver continued, pulling out his cell phone to make a call. 'Thea, I figured out where I'm vacationing. I'm gonna go to the old house in Ivy Town and clean the place up so we can finally sell it. Yeah. Perfect, we'll get everything set up for teleconferencing with the Union boards and alert the City Manager so he can inform the press. Alright, see you soon."

"You have a house there?" Kara asked, ignoring for the moment the way that Oliver's voice changed when he was talking to his sister.

"Yes, um..."

"We used to live there. Together," Felicity explained, pointedly not looking at Oliver. "We haven't been there since moving back to Star City."

"Oh... well maybe-"

"GA, oh wait, did we decide you're okay with GA? Either way, Oliver we've got a problem." Curtis rambled as he hung up his own cell phone, walked past them, and sat at another computer.

"Curtis? What is it?"

"I just picked something up from the police report when Mayor Queen's Anti Crime Unit raided Mark Desmond's warehouse," Curtis explained as he pulled up reports filled out by the investigating officers. "He had an inventory of four crates of Blockbuster formula, each with 200 ampules of formula. When the police took everything in for evidence... only three cases were found."

Oliver sighed and closed his eyes before nodding and focusing on Curtis. "Okay, so one of his men must have escaped and taken the crate for himself."

"To sell or to use?" Felicity worried.

"Hopefully to use," Oliver answered. "If this stuff hits the streets, we're going to have a huge problem."

"Thankfully this stuff is Blockbuster Lite, as I've dubbed it. It doesn't cause the same physical transformation that Desmond liked so much. The formula's potency has been watered down, probably because he didn't want any of his customers getting stronger than him."

"But?"

"But..." Curtis turned from his computer then. "It will still grant increased strength and aggression, temporarily."

"Until you've taken enough, then you can transform every time you get pissed. Then we basically have another Mirakuru outbreak on our hands."

Oliver pressed his a hand to his forehead, running his forefinger and thumb back and forth across his brow. Kara knew what she wanted to say but before she could even get a word out, Oliver instantly pointed a finger and gave her the death stare to end all death stares.

"No, absolutely not," he said simply. "Now if you're uncomfortable with the dress, sit down, otherwise you are not going up against this guy without backup. Not again. End of discussion."

Though usually resistant to being ordered around, Kara felt herself fall back into an unoccupied computer chair with a huff. Thankfully she chose that rather than a stool, since cold leather on the edge of her butt cheeks was preferable to a cold metal stool. The first thing she would do in Ivy Town was find a place that sold lots of pants. Cardigans and pants.

"Oliver... you should go with Kara."

Both Kara and Oliver looked at her in surprise but Felicity seemed set in this decision. She stood up and put her hands together as if in prayer, seeming to think for a moment before she stepped forward and gripped Oliver by the forearm. Oliver not only didn't fight that gesture, but he actually seemed to lean into a bit and grip her back with his other hand. Whatever unspoken communication went on there, Oliver sighed before letting go and walking over to Curtis.

"Alright, Felicity is in charge while I'm away but Curtis, I want you to lead field ops."

"Really? Me?"

"You're the most senior member of the team and you know how to stick to the plan in times of panic," Oliver explained further. "Rene likes to improvise too much and Rory has trouble asserting authority. It's up to you Curtis. Get this poison out of our city."

"I ask again, me?"

"You'll do great," Oliver reassured him, patting Curtis on the shoulder. "The city is in your hands."

While Curtis stared out into the empty space between the wall and the ceiling, Oliver began walking over to Kara. She didn't know if it would be better or worse to stand right now.

"You and I will go to Ivy Town. We'll get the device, stop this maniac, and get you home. Together."

Kara stood in excitement. "A team-up! I haven't had one of those in forever!"

"We had one a few months ago! Aliens, remember?" Felicity laughed.

"Oh those don't count, I meant a one on one team up, just me and another hero. I'll be brave, you be bold."

"Fine. But you should know, this isn't going to be like teaming up with Barry," Oliver chuckled as he shook her hand. "We're going to be playing this safe, lots of stakeouts and surveying before we make any moves. The old house will serve as our base and provide the perfect cover for Oliver Queen."

Kara nodded and then instantly felt a panic shiver go down her spine. She sat back down (though she had to sit up and readjust for a second as her entire bare butt hit leather) and thought about what she'd just signed up for. There would be no team, no Felicity's jokes, Curtis's cute awkwardness, Rory's calming presence, Rene's... well, he'd helped get the bullet out of her chest. It would just be her and Oliver. Alone. Only Rao knew how long it would take for them to stop The Thinker and get her back home.

Now she had two major reasons to get that device back as soon as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think of this as a sort of "End of Part 1." 
> 
> Part 2 will be a lot more one on one time between Oliver and Kara, so for those of you who have been asking for more interaction between them... your wish will soon be granted.
> 
> Let me know how I did by leaving a comment and/or a kudos! Your support feeds my ego and your criticisms feed my obsessive perfectionism.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Company You Keep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After arriving in Ivy Town, Oliver and Kara try to figure out how to work together. They have some trouble.

Oliver closed the trunk of the rental car before locking it, taking in the old neighborhood. Ivy Town had always been more of a suburb than a true town, being so close to Hartford made it unnecessary for an economy to build up in the area. Ivy Town was mostly expensive housing, farmer's markets, and a few private schools that the children of CEOs and hedge fund managers attended. Once it had been Oliver's perfect little hideaway. You couldn't have any street crime when there weren't any streets after all. Every direction was just a cul-de-sacs, highways, and the odd main street for stores and municipal buildings.

The air had a clear, almost sweet taste as Oliver closed his eyes and remembered the time he and Felicity had lived here. It was one of the few times Oliver had felt in control of his life, even before the Island. Here, Oliver had the chance to discover who he was without violence, and in turn discovered a knack for cooking, fantasy football leagues, and even some light gardening. It wasn't that he loved doing those things or even living here specifically, he sure as hell hadn't missed them since leaving, but this had been a dream almost realized.

Felicity. For a few months, she and Oliver had almost grasped it, that unattainable goal, that far off dream. Normalcy. Quiet. Love. The novelty of trying to live like everyday people had been enough for Oliver, as long as he had her by his side. If only Damien Darhk hadn't set his sights on Star City, if only Oliver had chosen not to go back, if only he hadn't kept William a secret, if, if, if...

Suddenly Oliver worried that he was going to have a tougher time here than he thought. Thankfully Felicity would be staying behind in Star City. As invaluable as her help was, the team would need it more, and being here in this place again might spark old (and distracting) feelings between them. Or not. Oliver wasn't sure which would be worse. In a way, he already had his answer. Felicity had made it clear that this part of their lives was over before he left, pulling him aside while he was gathering the last of their necessary equipment from the Bunker.

"I just wanted you to know, before you leave... that I see it," she had started, brushing her hand over his arm while struggling to keep eye contact. "I see the way you look at Kara. I see it and I'm fine with it."

"Fine with what?"

"I'm fine with you developing... feeling for... her..."

"Felicity..." Oliver had chuckled a bit in offense. "I know you've 'joked' about my experiences with other women-"

"No need to sugar coat, the word man-slut has been uttered more than once."

"But it may surprise you to know that I can work with a woman without sleeping with her," he'd continued. "In fact most women I meet? I do not sleep with."

"Isabel Rochev."

"Was three years ago and you said you were over that."

"My memory is long."

"Felicity..."

"I know, I know! But Oliver, you don't look at 'most women' like you do Kara," Felicity had steamrolled over his argument before sighing, turning to the side and fiddling with one of his arrowheads. "And I get it. She's beautiful and adorable and so funny. Not to mention all the super powers and the costume and I mean, I wasn't with you because of those things, but I will admit that it's hot to date someone who wears a mask."

"Well good thing Supergirl doesn't wear a mask," Oliver had smiled but Felicity was clearly still feeling awkward. "And that she lives on another Earth. Frankly I'm not sure I should be dating anyone right now, with Prometheus still out there, Vigilante, not to mention Diggle's trial still going on. Plus the team still needs so much work... I'm not looking for romance right now. Even if I was, I certainly wouldn't be looking for something with a woman who lives most of her life in another plane of existence ."

Felicity had turned away from him then, as if she were hiding some tell or emotion on her face, but for once Oliver didn't have a clue as to what. He'd waited patiently for Felicity to speak up, not wanting to press any boundaries that were newly formed when he became "the ex." After about ten seconds of silence though, Oliver's patience finally broke and he reached up to brush his hand over her neck and down her shoulder. For a split second she leaned into his hand.

Then she turned, her expression strong. Felicity Smoak was a woman decided then and Oliver was glad to see it.

"Fair enough. We both know that I've worked on moving on. It's only fair- wait no, it's only _right_ that you be happy and try to do the same. With Kara or whoever."

"Thank you Felicity."

"Still..." she'd paused then, giving him a little wink before continuing. "It would give me a bit of a creepy, stalker ego boost if you moved on with someone who looks exactly like me."

"You two look nothing alike," Oliver had laughed.

"How can someone so blind, aim a bow so well?"

Those were her last words before Oliver left. Now he smiled as he pictured Felicity then, the image of her smile mixing with the memories he had of her in this place. The first time she had pointed out the mailbox, sharing both of their names. Her surprise when he re-sodded the whole front yard on a particularly uneventful day. The doorway where he'd pretended they were married, sweeping her into his arms and carrying her through the threshold like a new bride. He had joked that they were getting it out of the way, for when they were actually married. Felicity had gotten so nervous after he said that, her panicked and wide-eyed look absolutely adorable. Or at least it seemed adorable at the time.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Oliver shook away the memories.

"Well come on, we have a lot of stuff from your office that I want to get set up as soon as possible."

Thea brushed past him to the door, adjusting some documents in the accordion folder she had under one arm. Though Oliver Queen had been able to schedule a vacation for himself, 'taking care of personal business in Ivy Town,' it was only under the condition that he teleconference into a few meetings and interviews. He also promised to speak to some local businesses in the area about moving their operations to Star City, to create growth in areas where it was needed. While Oliver would need to do the face-to-face stuff, Thea would be on hand to take care of day-to-day operations.

Following his sister into the house, Oliver watched as she immediately beelined to the kitchen where the ethernet cables were being stored, eager to get to work after their four hour car ride. Oliver put his suitcase down, getting ready to go to the car and grab the rest of their things when Thea made a noise of alarm that caused him to run after her on instinct. When he got into the kitchen though, Oliver's animal instincts were completely shut down by the sight before him.

Kara Danvers was holding a bowl of cereal, half of which had spilled to the ground and down her legs. Thea's arm was coming out of a locked position and Oliver realized that she'd had the same reaction. Instinctive attack. Kara had caught the throwing knife by the blade, holding the three inch long projectile up between her eyes before dropping it to the ground as well as the rest of the cereal in her other hand, ceramic bowl smashing into the linoleum. She moved to cover herself with her hands at the same time. Though Oliver usually had faster instincts, for a brief flash he couldn't help but take in the sight of Kara, all long legs, pale and smooth, disappearing at mid-thigh under a Boston Red Sox jersey. Other than a pair of men's tube socks and a clip holding her wet hair up, the flying alien superhero that Thea had met four months ago was naked. In his kitchen. In HIS jersey.

"uh... hi...?" Thea asked, baffled yet also laughing, and then choking on that laugh. And then laughing again.

"Speedy!" Kara exlaimed, reaching behind her to a dish towel that was hanging off of the oven and using it to wipe the milk and cereal that was dribbling down her legs. "I mean, Thea, right? It's good to see you again, you look well. After the Dominators adbucted you..."

"Oh yeah, well, that was an experience alright but I'm handling it," Thea explained as politely as she could while barely able to contain her visible glee. "What about you? Finding you here in my brother's house... in my brother's clothes... having used my brother's shower..."

"Hey, that's not- I flew in early yesterday to settle up a few things," Kara argued as she moved behind the doorway that connected the kitchen to the living room, hiding her lower half. "I took a shower before I remembered that I was out of clean clothes and, well... there are only men's clothes in this house!"

"Felicity never leaves an outfit behind. I however do," Oliver confirmed for Kara. "Supergirl must have found it in my closet. Did you use the master shower Kara? The other one has trouble heating up."

"I noticed!" Kara quickly jumped on the lifeline. "I went to the first closet I found and it was either this or one of Oliver's button down work shirts."

"I'm sure you can save that outfit for next time," Thea japed. Oliver decided to cut in then before Supergirl remembered she had heat vision and used it on his sister.

"Thea got you more clothes, in the brown knapsack by the-" before Oliver could finish, Kara disappeared in a rush of air along with the broken bowl and the spilled cereal, "-stairway."

Another blast of air and Kara was standing behind them wearing a long black and white striped skirt and a black sleeveless top with blue printing around the chest. Kara's hair was still wet but now it was pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing her glasses. She was still wearing the socks though, Oliver noticed.

"There, muuuuuch better," Kara sighed with a little giggle before stretching her neck a bit with her hand. "By the way, is every woman on this Earth allergic to flats? Everyone keeps trying to give me heels."

"Sorry, guess you'll have to make a stop at the shoe store," Thea had laughed, looking at Kara in wonder. "Man, I wish I could change clothes that quickly. It would have gotten me out of some pretty tough jams in high school."

"Like what?" Kara asked.

"No please, I don't want to know," Oliver cut in. "Kara, there are some other cases with equipment and weapons we might need still in the car. Could you grab some of those for me and bring them inside?"

"Oh, I already got those. In fact, when I grabbed my clothing I also grabbed everything else and placed them in the living room, living supplies on the couch, surveillance stuff and Green Arrow gear on the coffee table."

Both Oliver and Thea stared for a second, unable to think of anything to say to that.

"Um... but now that I think about it, I should sort some of those bags more carefully. At normal speed," Kara picked up the hint and backed out of the room slowly with a slight nod. "Yeah, yeah, I'll do that and you guys do... yeah, yeah, for sure I'll... just..." Kara was out of the kitchen then but not before tossing Oliver the throwing knife.

"Old souvenir?" Oliver asked, tossing the knife to his sister.

"Well, I may be retired but I still want to defend myself, and this is cheaper than mace," Thea explained, catching the knife and slipping it into a back pocket before she crossed her arms and gave Oliver a very smug smile. "I have to say Ollie... sneaking a pretty girl into a secluded house in the countryside, that sounds a lot like the old you. As in, college Ollie."

"It's not like that."

"Are you sure?" Thea asked, her tone shifting slightly. "Cause... you could do worse."

"We are not here for that," Oliver made sure his tone was more serious now. "We are here to help Kara get home and stop a very dangerous man from continuing to use a very dangerous weapon."

"And I get that, really I do. But take it from me, being retired these past few months... it's been very revealing. It makes you think about your life and all of this stuff that we do and makes it feel... different. Maybe you should let yourself feel something like that again."

Oliver didn't have a response to that so he simply nodded. Why was everyone saying these things about Kara? Were they seeing something he wasn't?

"Alright, I'll leave it alone," Thea finally said after a while. "You're mostly good for today. I'll help unpack everything, maybe set a few things up, but starting tomorrow we've got a full schedule. If you could do me a favor and try to stay in contact with me in case of an emergency? Also, I'm going to be tied up with meetings and phone calls so don't expect Speedy to be making a return any time soon."

"I've got it. Thea Queen is here to support Oliver Queen, not the Green Arrow."

"Good."

Thea stood up on her tiptoes to give Oliver a quick peck on the cheek before grabbing an apple off the counter ("That hadn't been there before," Oliver thought, "Kara must have added it at super speed when she cleaned up the cereal.") and stepping out, already dialing a number on her phone. Oliver thanked his lucky stars for having a sister like Thea and went over to the living room so he could start setting up some of their equipment.

He was faced by another surprise as Kara was already setting up their computer station, connecting it to Felicity's recommended broadband satellite and a few external processors. Kara was so focused on her work that she hadn't noticed him coming into the room, hunched over some wiring that she was trying to untangle. Oliver couldn't help but stare for a moment, the image of Kara on her knees in a professional work skirt while rewiring a motherboard, barefoot with her glasses pushed up over her head as she closed one eye to peer deeper inside. There was something intimate and strange and attractive about her in that moment.

"Felicity and Thea have gotten in my head," Oliver thought.

"It all looks good," he said instead, as a way of announcing his presence.

"Thanks!" Kara chirped before she placed the cover over the circuitry and smiled up at Oliver. "'Felicity left "idiot-proof' instructions on set up, so I figured I wouldn't leave the whole thing to you."

"Thanks."

"No problem!" Kara returned before she stood up and grabbed a pair of blue, closed-toe heels off of the coffee table and started slipping them on. "I also brought some of that cool spy gear from the Bunker, and I laid a few hidden cameras and listening devices around the Thinker's compound this morning. The feed is being sent to us right now, and I had Felicity run a program that would alert us about any movement or off-frequency sounds that get picked up. The moment Thinker does something with that place, we'll know."

Oliver was stunned. He had expected surveillance set-up to take the day. With that out of the way, he had more free time to pursue other matters.

"Impressive Kara," he said once the shock wore off, and Oliver was rewarded by a hidden smile. "Now we can move on to more nontraditional methods of strategy."

"My thoughts exactly," Kara responded, walking toward Oliver with only a slight shake in her step from the heels. "So what kind of things were you thinking, a stakeout? Maybe you have me hover above the place for a bit, see what I can find with my x-ray vision? Oh! I saw a thing in a movie once where these guys managed to break into a government facility by infiltrating the sewage system. Really gross but if needed I am game for trying."

"No, we need to move carefully on this," Oliver explained with some alarm at Kara's sudden manic rush. "We know he's working out of that decommissioned facility, infrared from an A.R.G.U.S. satellite already picked up heat signatures inside. We could storm in right now but I think you know from experience that that's a bad idea. We need to play this smart. We need information. We need to find our edge that will give us the chance to neutralize any weapons Carmichael might have."

Kara stared at Oliver with look of deep dissatisfaction before she started fidgeting with her arm. Her bra strap.

"Look, I get that Oliver but..." she paused as she pulled the strap out of the sleeve and started stretching it with her hand. Oliver didn't bother trying to figure out how women behaved when it came to their bras. "I've already been on this Earth for a week. A whole week where my city and and my job and my friends have probably wondered where I am. Whether I'm still alive. I have to get home."

Oliver understood that. "You will get home Kara, that will happen. I'm just trying to make sure you get home alive."

It was left at that. Kara agreed that they would take things slow for now, though she couldn't promise that she wouldn't look for any way to speed the process up, including using her super speed for menial tasks. She and Oliver discussed a few more things they could do, hacking into traffic cameras near the area of the Thinker's Facility for one, before Kara told him to wait a moment and super sped away. A moment later she came back, explaining that Thea's bras were too tight. Oliver didn't question further.

As they were leaving, Oliver decided that he would let Kara continue with taking the lead on surveillance. She would go to the Thinker's facility again, at super speed, and note strategic vantage points for possible, future stakeouts. She would also keep an eye out for any means of getting access to security feeds that the Thinker would most likely set up for himself. Meanwhile Oliver would reach out to an old contact.

"Wait, it sounds like I'm doing all the work and you're getting drinks with an old friend," Kara had complained as she and Oliver left the house.

"Well you are stronger than me," Oliver had argued while locking the front door behind him. "And I'm taking the only task that isn't helped by super speed."

"Oliver?"

They both turned to see a brown-haired woman wearing a tennis visor, staring at them from the sidewalk. The glare made it hard for Oliver to recognize her for a moment, but he shaded his eyes to see high wasted jeans and a blue floral blouse. The woman was also wearing sunglasses that she took off as she glanced at a man wearing jeans and a green and red striped polo shirt. The man had light brown hair, slicked back in a pompadour, and the two of them together finally made Oliver's memory click.

"Laura? Adam and Laura Hoffman? How are you?" Oliver asked, his surprise shaken away. "I haven't seen you in months!"

"Not since we came to visit Star City! Adam look who it is! It's Oliver and Felicity!"

Oliver paused before looking back at Kara in confusion. The resemblance had been brought up too many times for him to ignore. Even though Kara and Felicity had completely different noses, eyes, hands, body movements, breathing patterns, muscle shape balance to center of gravity... when Kara wore her glasses and had her hair pulled back, Oliver had to admit that she did look a bit like Felicity. Kara on the other hand, compared to Oliver's frozen surprise, reacted to the mistake with almost a laugh.

"Oh actually, I'm not Felicity," she started, walking up and shaking both Hoffmans' hands while introducing herself. "My name is Kara Danvers, nice to meet you."

"You too..." Adam responded with hesitation, he and his wife looking to Oliver for answers.

"I can see where you would be confused. Glasses and all," Kara explained with the utmost geniality, smiling and adjusting her frames while Oliver's brain still tried to wake up.

"So you are... Oliver's-"

"Realtor!" Oliver finally chimed in. "Kara is my realtor. I am trying to sell the old place and she is helping me do that."

"Right, I should give you a card!" Kara jumped in before realizing her mistake. "I mean, I can't because I don't have a card... because I'm new at this. I've only had my license for a few weeks. I haven't had cards made yet."

"Kara is a friend of mine. I figured I could throw her an easy commission in selling this place, to get her off her feet."

"On my feet," Kara whispered.

"Oh... oh well that's very kind of you Oliver," Laura nodded, accepting their half-baked lie. "Is she a friend of your sister's?"

"What?"

"Yes, I'm a friend of Thea's. We met in Star City while Thea took some college courses at Starling U. I was a Senior when she was a sophomore, that kind of thing."

"Wait, how old are you?" Oliver couldn't stop himself from asking.

"I'm... I'm 25, though my birthday is next month. I thought you knew?" Kara asked, seeming to get confused on whether Oliver was asking for the cover story or not.

"Jesus, 25...?" Oliver couldn't stop himself from groaning. Unfortunately Adam made it worse.

"Robbing the cradle there Oliver? At least she falls under the rule," Adam laughed. "Half your age plus seven?"

"Oliver, I thought you were the mayor of Star City now," Laura cut in with some worry and more than enough judgement in her voice. "Do you really need to be here while... Kara was it? While she tries to sell the old place? Where is Felicity?"

"Felicity and I aren't together anymore," Oliver tried to get them to focus on that and less on Kara. "It was amicable, for the most part. She's in Star City right now working on a start up."

Laura and Adam seemed to forget their suspicions and Kara for a moment as they bombarded Oliver with questions at the same time, all about Felicity and what had happened between them. Oliver tried to explain the best he could without getting into too many details. Eventually the rhythm seemed to settle and Oliver had pegged down a story. He and Felicity still loved each other but she wanted to pursue a more demanding career and not just be a mayor's wife. Oliver had accepted that and was trying to move on. When he mentioned that, Adam's eyes ticked over to Kara for a moment and gave her the once over, so Oliver explained further.

"Kara actually came up with this idea. She said I needed to get rid of this old place, to try and start fresh. She's doing me a favor really."

"Well of course Oliver," Kara rode along with the lie. "I mean, considering all the things you've done for eh, me and Thea and our friends, I was glad to do it."

This seemed to settle things for the most part. Laura and Adam focused mostly on how long they would be in town after that, what Oliver had been up to since becoming mayor, even gossiping about some of their mutual friends. Kara chimed in with a joke or an answer to a question here or there, but for the most part she just stood back and let Oliver take the lead. He was surprised by how easy it felt too. In some weird way, despite their lives being galaxies away from his, Oliver realized that in some strange way the Hoffmans truly were his friends.

"You have to come over for dinner before you leave, oh! Tomorrow night!" Laura tittered with excitement. "I just found this great new recipe that uses Ricotta cheese, you'd swear you were eating a little piece of heaven!"

"And of course you're invited too Kara," Adam added.

"Yes of course, you should come as well," Laura agreed after a very brief hesitation.

"I would love it."

Now it was Oliver's turn to stare at Kara but she pointedly ignored him, forcing him to continue in turn. "We'll be there tomorrow... say at eight?"

After a few more minutes of small talk, Adam and Laura went back to their morning walk leaving Oliver and Kara in silence. 

"I'm surprised you agreed. I thought for sure you'd figure out an excuse," Kara spoke first.

"You don't know Laura Hoffman. If I rejected her for dinner today, she'd be calling us about it nonstop tomorrow. Better to just get it out of the way."

"Makes sense."

"I'm surprised that you wanted to join in," Oliver turned it back.

"I've been on this Earth for nearly two weeks and I've eaten nothing but takeout and fast food," Kara explained. "I'm itching for some home cooking. Plus Ricotta cheese is like the crack of cheeses. And I'm interested to know what kind of people Oliver Queen calls his friends."

Oliver turned and stood in front of Kara, only an inch separating them as he stared her down. Intriguingly, Kara did not back down from his approach and in fact ticked her head up to hold eye contact in challenge, completely unfazed by his presence as he tried to read her. It was a vast improvement over the stammering and shrugging Oliver had expected. Being out of the bunker clearly agreed with Kara's confidence level.

"First of all, those people were friends with someone who doesn't exist anymore," Oliver placed his hand over Kara's shoulder. "And second of all, if you wanted a home cooked meal..." he leaned in and whispered the next part. "... you should have just asked me."

Now Oliver knew what Felicity was talking about. He couldn't help himself. Seeing Kara's eyes widen and the blush run down her nose and over her neck until it reached her chest gave him a very non-platonic thrill. He would need to work on tamping that down.

"Really?" she whispered after clearing her throat.

"Of course. I taught Laura Hoffman everything she knows about cooking," Oliver explained with a laugh. He stepped back and opened the rental car door to get in. "I'm gonna head out, you take care of setting up that extra surveillance and I'll see you back here in a few hours."

***

"Hi there."

Oliver almost flipped the table over to create a blockade until he saw blonde tresses pulled back by a pink hair tie and dark, rimmed glasses. His hand was hovering over the butter knife next to his coffee as Kara sat down across from him, sipping from a to-go cup marked "Kieran" on the side. Clearly enjoying the way she'd surprised him, Kara took a sip of her drink while looking toward the target, pointedly ignoring Oliver's eye contact. Despite the cup in front of her lips, Oliver could still see the mischievous smile on her face that matched the glint in her eye.

"He hasn't moved in a while," Oliver began, hiding any shred of his surprise.

"Hmm. He's talking to his weed dealer on the phone. I can't quite hear the other end but I think they're on friendly terms," she reported as she stared across the room at the man Oliver had been following for the past half hour. "Now he's hanging up. I think he's going to make one more call, but his phone is alerting him to an appointment he has soon. Twenty minutes."

"Kara, what are you doing here?" Oliver cut through. "You were supposed to see about getting a backdoor into Carmichael's security."

"I did. After I planted markers around his compound to indicate where security was weakest, I managed to sneak Curtis's T-sphere into one of their server rooms," Kara turned to Oliver then, angelic smile and devilish glare. "Now we can hack into their security cameras at our leisure. Having done my job, I thought it would be a good idea to help you with your task."

"You shouldn't have come here."

"I told you Oliver, I will not be benched," Kara's smile vanished. "I accept that I need your help, I can't do this without you and you saved my life, but don't think for a second that I'm a damsel in distress. We are a team and I will help, and if you try to bench me again I will keep popping up on you like this."

"I wasn't trying to bench you," Oliver muttered.

The man finished his phone call ("It was a girl. He kept calling her sweet... something I refuse to say. It was gross.") and stood up, tossing a few tens onto his table. Fixing his gray tie before running a finger through his slicked back, ink-black hair, the man started to leave. Oliver kept his eyes down as the man walked past, heading for the door and then stepping out onto the street. Starting to count the passing seconds, Oliver quickly took Kara by the wrist when she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Oliver grunted.

"I'm following him. That's what you were doing, right?"

Sometimes it was better just lean into things rather than fight them.

"Yes, but sit down. He's going to head to his car which is on the street behind the building. He won't get there for at least twenty seconds. At fifteen we'll get up and head out the back."

Oliver left it at that, hoping that Kara would be a quick learner. She stood by the table for a few moments, brushing his hand away from her wrist as she eyed the clock above the register, literally counting the seconds. The last of Oliver's coffee was left cold and untouched as he stood up and headed toward the employee exit by the restrooms, exiting into the alley with Kara close behind. Once the automatic door swung shut behind them, Oliver ran toward the wall and pushed up and off for a few steps, giving him the height to reach a fire escape and begin climbing.

Once his hand reached the top, Oliver pulled himself up as Kara floated down in front of him, heels clicking on brick as she landed. Again she smiled, a little too pleased with herself, as Oliver ran to the other side of the roof and looked down at the man's car. He was just pulling out of his parking spot, heading west.

"So we're following this guy, right?" Kara asked, looking around before she turned to Oliver again, brushing away some hair from her face that was getting caught in the wind. "He's connected to Carmichael?"

"That's Otto Swann, former professional thief. He worked with Carmichael for years, stealing research and equipment for him for a fee. Even with his new toy, I'm sure Carmichael still has use for him and a source confirmed it. Swann is trying to act as a fence right now for some of Carmichael's stolen goods."

Oliver took off at a sprint then, jumping from the coffee shop roof to an adjoining building so he could eye the car turning a corner. Kara was beside him again, as if he hadn't moved, and Oliver shook his head in frustration before climbing up a weather vane that helped him reach the next, higher rooftop. Thankfully Hartford had a more substantial skyline than Ivy Town for Oliver to use. He climbed to higher and higher buildings still, looking for footholds and steel cables to help him along the way. Kara meanwhile simply floated over his shoulder, following along like she was bored. A couple of times she seemed to lose balance mid-air and would need to land, but she would be back up quickly.

"It's harder to fly without my cape," she explained at one point.

"I'll put it in my file about you," Oliver joked, causing Kara to smile before she shook it off and frowned instead.

"You know, I could have followed this guy for you. I understand that I'm not as stealthy as you or whatever you call it, but I know from experience that people have trouble looking up," Kara explained, still looking sore about something. "I think, that you think, that I don't know what I'm doing, and the only question I have, is where is this doubt coming from? It can't be my gender, you're not that type of jerk. It can't be because you're a loner, you know how to delegate to a team, I've seen it. So I'm thinking maybe it's because-"

Oliver grabbed Kara by the ankle, pulling her down to wrap his forearm around her middle while he pressed the other hand over her mouth. He knew that Kara must have instinctively floated down when he pulled, otherwise he would be up in the air with her, but Kara still griped and complained as he moved the both of them behind a brick built ventilation shaft. Oliver counted to three before he looked over the side, down to the street where Swann and two of his men had stepped out of the car. They looked around for a few seconds before getting back in the car and driving again.

After Oliver sighed, Kara pulled out of his arms and immediately started adjusting her top, untucking it from the waistband of her skirt and then tucking it back in. The whole time she looked annoyed as she avoided eye contact with him. Once that was set, she took the opportunity to remove her heels, standing barefoot before she tossed Thea's shoes over her shoulder.

"They're out of fashion anyway," Kara mumbled. Oliver decided to leave that alone.

They followed the car rooftop to rooftop, Oliver running and climbing and jumping while Kara followed behind, still floating but barely off of the ground. She tried harder to screen her movements, hiding behind pillars and ducking down into a crouch whenever Oliver did. So far, other than that brief stop and check, Swann seemed unaware he was being followed.

The car finally pulled up near the gate of an electrics plant, the driver getting out and opening the chain with a pair of pliers. Swann stepped out with a briefcase, glancing around again but otherwise unaware of Oliver and Kara hiding on the adjoining roof of an administration building. There were men on motorcycles who were already there waiting. The buyers.

"What are they saying?"

"They're posturing for now, just a lot of 'My time is important' talk," Kara reported, sitting down with one knee up as she closed her eyes to focus. "Okay, they're done. Talking about prices. The man we followed is talking about his employer, Carmichael. He says Carmichael has become richer recently, and so has he. He just told the men on the motorcycles that they don't need to know his name. Oliver, how did you find this guy?"

"I'm surprised you don't already know," Oliver replied sarcastically.

"It took me a while to find you," Kara scrunched up her lips. "My super hearing picked up your heartbeat but it was hard because your... your heartbeat is normally really low or something, it's weird. You're a weirdo. All I heard before I found you at the coffee shop was something from a man named Dmitri? He was speaking Russian though. Do you speak Russian?"

"Dmitri was my contact," Oliver explained. "He told me about Swann's connection to Carmichael. He also informed me of Swann's thing for the barista at that cafe. That's how I knew I could find him there."

Kara seemed satisfied with that explanation and went back to listening. "They're talking money. Swann says Carmichael could... he could just kill them all, so any deal Swann offers is a good one. The... the other men seem to believe him."

Oliver nodded and glanced down, watching as the buyers took off their motorcycle helmets and holstered their guns. It seemed Carmichael really did have some weight on these streets. Oliver's thoughts on the situation were interrupted when Kara grabbed him by the shoulder a little harshly, shaking him. It wasn't violent but it made his teeth click together.

"Oliver, he's selling those men Inertron weapons! We have to stop him! We can't let stuff like that get out into the public!"

"I agree."

Oliver pulled a wire from his pocket that was attached to a rectangular box. The box attached to the rooftop with a magnetic click as Oliver un-spooled more and more of the spider-silk tensile wire, wrapping it first around his hand and then pulling more for slack. He walked over to the edge of the roof before he used his other hand to point at Kara.

"Stay here. If I need back up I'll call your name."

"Oliver, if its a fight you'll want my help."

"No, I'm not going down there as Green Arrow," Oliver explained as he pulled a balaclava out of his pocket and pulled it over his face. "So you can't go down there and reveal your powers. If the Thinker gets a hint that Supergirl followed him to his home, he'll skip town and we'll lose all trace of him. Let me take care of this."

Jumping off the building, Oliver felt the wire slow his descent. He pushed away from the wall with his legs, pulling on more wire and lowering himself further, repeating this for a while until he was almost to the ground. No one had noticed him so far. Touching the ground, Oliver immediately disconnected his rappelling wire and ran forward, pulling two flechettes out of his pockets and throwing both. He followed that by grabbing a discarded L-pipe and taking out the leg of the first buyer he could reach.

Shots started ringing out but not from two of the buyers. Those two fell unconscious from the sedatives now pumping through their necks as Oliver finished off the third, smashing the man in the head with the L-pipe as he moaned over his dislocated knee. Oliver then threw the pipe at Swann, hitting him right in the gut to knock the air out of him and cause him to double over. Oliver started to tun then as Swann's guards and the remaining two buyers took shots at him, thankfully from regular guns. Counting the pops and waiting for their ammo to be depleted, Oliver hid behind a concrete extension while fishing out two more flechettes from his pocket.

Once the shots started slowing down, Oliver dove from cover screaming, throwing the flechettes at the legs of the remaining buyers and causing them to scream in pain. Their aim went crazy while Oliver ran up and gripped them by the helmets, smashing their heads together. They crumpled completely to the ground before Oliver ducked a punch aimed at his head from behind. He kicked back, hitting Swann's driver in the groin and making him double over before Oliver stood and elbowed him in the back. Once the man was face-first on the ground, Oliver punched him in the back of the head a few times to make sure he stayed down.

Unfortunately this left Oliver open as Swann's remaining guard held a gun to his head. Oliver heard the click of the trigger and was about to move, prepared to lose a piece of his ear at bare minimum, when the man screamed. The gun fell to the ground in front of Oliver, red hot and melting into the pavement. Distracted, Oliver was able to take the man out by kicking up off the ground and wrapping his legs around the gunman's head. Oliver threw the man down to the ground while using the momentum of the man's body to flip himself to a standing position.

"You're welcome," came a shout from above.

Oliver looked over to his left to see, far away from where the fighting had taken place, Kara sitting on a support beam. Though she looked to be sitting casually without a care in the world up there, Oliver could see on Kara's face that she was troubled. He nodded in thanks to her before walking over to the last one. The man was still bent over, holding his gut where the pipe had hit him, his previously slicked back hair now waving in his face. As Oliver came close the man vomited.

"Otto Swann."

"Look, clearly you have juice, no doubt," Swann said with the confidence of a man not currently on his knees and covered in sick. "But you have no idea who you're messing with here."

"Explain it to me," Oliver helped Swann stand, gripping him by the nape of his neck and laying his other hand on Swann's gut, right where the pipe had hit.

"You've never heard of The Thinker? You from out of town or something?" the thief coughed before Oliver slapped his stomach. Swann groaned and spat up blood before continuing. "Okay, okay, look, he's the guy okay? The main guy. Everything on the Northeastern seaboard passes through him now, that's the new rules. Weapons, drugs, girls, everything."

"Or what?"

"Or... geez man, you gonna make me say it? He'll make you wish you were dead."

"You're close to the inner circle," Oliver stated rather than asked. "Tell me how to get to him. When is he most vulnerable? What does he love most?"

Oliver could feel Kara over his shoulder, out of sight like he asked but witness to everything he was doing. He grimaced at being in this position in front of her but he had to continue. He hit Swann's wound again but this time with a closed fist. Now his victim coughed up blood as Oliver let go of him, letting Swann fall face first into the gravel.

"Talk!"

"Talk? Talk!? There's nothing to talk about," Swann spit, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth as he looked up at Oliver. Smiling. "I'm the only normal guy he has left working for him. Everyone else are black op hit squads he pays by the hour and metahumans he's enslaved. His weapons are from the future and he never sleeps. Talk? He doesn't tell me sh- aggghhhhhh!!!!"

Oliver put pressure on Swann's elbow with his left fist while reaching with his right hand to take Swann's gun out of his waistband. Oliver had noticed Swann reaching for it as he spoke so he felt little guilt when he had Swann double over at an awkward angle before jerking down suddenly, causing the target's shoulder to pop out of its socket. Swann screamed more before Oliver hit him on the side of the head with the gun handle.

"We know he has a device! Tell us where it is, how to get it!"

"I don't know!" Swann cried, tears and blood dripping from his face as he lay on the ground, clutching his arm. Oliver raised the gun to hit him again when he felt a sudden, strong grip on his shoulder.

Kara was holding him, a chilling mix of numbness and fury on her face as she stared anywhere but Oliver's face. Though Kara had touched him a few times before, sometimes playfully and sometimes seriously, this was the first time Oliver could actually feel her super strength. It was frightening. He looked at his shoulder where she held him and then back into her eyes, urging her to let go. After a long moment she looked up and did.

"You've worked with Carmichael for years, he doesn't confide in you?" Oliver asked, letting go of Swann.

"He's-he's changed! He used to be this little nerd that asked me to do weird jobs, but now... now he's something else. He's something inhuman," Swann had a look of disgust on his face, whether for Oliver or for something else. "I don't know about his organization and I don't want to know. I sell his stuff and that's it. I've got nothing to do with those... experiments."

The word hung in the air for a moment. Oliver glanced at Kara briefly and he could see she was just as troubled.

"So just let me go! I'll leave the country and you can do the same."

"No."

Oliver gripped Swann by the collar and pulled him up to his feet, remembering one last thing he needed to do. Placing one hand around Swann's ear and the other around his throat, Oliver stared into Swann's eyes and spoke very carefully and very softly, to make sure the man understood.

"You will go to jail for illegal weapon sales. You will call your lawyer. You will tell him to contact Carmichael, by whatever means necessary. And you will deliver him this message," Oliver let go of his collar to put pressure on Swann's stomach again, causing the man to grimace. "The Bratva does not appreciate his operating in our territory without leave. Since he is new, we will give him a chance to rectify things with us. He will approach us with the appropriate ceremony. He will give us 30% of his organization in a gesture of brotherhood. If he does not comply, we will find every person he has ever loved, married, or even spoken to, and we will give him their hands. Then their feet. Then their heads. We will expect his answer in three days."

Wrapping him into a chokehold, Oliver held Swann around the neck for twenty seconds until he passed out, dropping his unconscious body to the ground. They were alone now.

"My god... Oliver..."

"Look, I didn't mean it," he started, removing his mask and trying to calm his nerves. "I just needed to say that."

"You tortured that man!" Kara exclaimed, backing away from him. "You threatened to kill him."

"An empty threat. I just needed him to believe I was serious."

"I believed it!"

Oliver wanted to continue and stepped forward but Kara immediately retreated, holding her hand out in front of him in a defensive position. He stopped moving, not just toward her but at all. She looked like she wanted to cry or maybe throw him into space. The harder part was how different her eyes were. Before when she had looked at Oliver, it always felt warm and hopeful. Now it seemed like all she could do just to be near him.

"This is why I didn't want you to come," Oliver sighed. "This is part of it. Sometimes you have to resort to extreme measures."

"Oliver, you didn't just torture that guy, you threatened his loved ones. The bad guys do that, not us!" Kara's body language suddenly changed, and she looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "The Bratva. I've heard of them... they're the Russian mob. Those men you spoke to earlier, they were Russian mobsters!? And they gave you this information? Did you torture them too?!"

"No, no," Oliver started, pulling his shirt down by the collar to show his badge. "See this? The tattoo? That signifies that I'm a captain in the Bratva. The local chapter gave me that information about Swann, per orders."

"Oh well that's good! You're a torturer and a crime boss!" Kara laughed harshly. "I'm guessing on this Earth the Bratva aren't all about charitable work and good deeds."

"They are a necessary evil, a tool that I use to help fight the enemies who are too well protected," Oliver explained, keeping his tone calm and logical while his stomach flipped with nerves. "I only became a member so they could help me with the mission. Their information led me to Swann-"

"You started a gang war Oliver! You didn't just threaten him, you told him that the Bratva declared war on Carmichael! What if people get hurt?"

"Swann knows the Bratva. He'll handle negotiations or explain how to Carmichael," Oliver had this all planned out. "It all starts with an approach of negotiation, one of their men and one Bratva member. When that meet happens, we will have an opening at Carmichael. A meet that we can control, so we can create an advantageous situation for ourselves."

"So it's a trap? You set a trap? Is the Bratva on board with no casualties?" Kara asked, and though it was only a second, Oliver's hesitation was apparent. "No, of course not. You don't know how your criminal friends will react to this insane stunt. They won't care about civilians when they retaliate against Carmichael. When he fights back. You put two bulls in the China Shop and egged them on into fighting!"

"And that will be MY problem to deal with!" Oliver finally snapped. "That will all be on my head, okay? I will explain to the Bratva what happened, that they are now at war with the Thinker, and if they blame me then I will accept the consequences. Kara, I did this for you."

"What!? I didn't want this!"

"You want to go home. You want to go home so badly, you're rushing, acting manic, making moves where it's unnecessary and following me? Jeopardizing my tail of a suspect?" Oliver shook his head, breathing to try and control his anger. "Look Kara, I get it. I was separated from my home once too, but you are acting reckless out the gate and I'm not sure I'll be able to catch you. I saw the fastest way of getting to Carmichael and I made it happen. Some of us need to take our time and make precautions to stay safe. Not all of us will be leaving the consequences behind when we go home! Not all of us are invulnerable!!"

"How dare you?" Kara and Oliver had switched places. Now he was the one yelling while her voice was deadly calm. "Don't make me your excuse Oliver Queen. You are doing this the wrong way, pure and simple. You are going to put people at risk and are making an already fragile situation more dangerous, and for what? Your grand plan? Creating enough violent chaos for you to grasp some sort of chance out of it? And you want to accuse me of being reckless?"

Oliver told himself later that he'd only spoken out of pain.

"I'm just trying to find a way to fix the mess you made."

There was nothing left to say after that. Kara stood there, shaking her head in disappointment while Oliver stood his ground. He hadn't wanted this to happen, and yet a part of him clearly expected it. That's why he'd tried to hide it. This was his world. Kara was light and hope on her Earth while Oliver fought the darkness. That wouldn't change just because a pretty blonde fell into his life. He'd already learned that the hard way once, just like everything else in his life.

"You're a jerk Oliver Queen."

Then she flew off.


	7. Chapter 7 - Constructive Criticisms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara gains a little perspective on Oliver, and Oliver discovers something strange about the Thinker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments and support I've received up until now! The story just hit 100+ kudos and I couldn't feel more honored. I hope you all continue to enjoy!

"Gimme that!"

"Oh come on asshole!"

The hooded man was sprinting down the street, head down to avoid being recognized, the woman's Kate Spade purse under his arm. For a change of pace, the woman was chasing him, screaming and threatening every step of the way. A .45 revolver hung low in the hoodie's front pocket but she was starting to draw too much attention to him. He didn't want to use it if he didn't have to. Bullets were expensive.

Cutting left without warning, he tried to lose her in an alley but was stopped short by a garbage truck blocking the other side. It was beeping loudly, indicating that it was crushing some recently added trash so he was trapped for at least a few minutes. The woman had followed him into the alley, her heavy boots thudding against the concrete as loudly as the truck. Her voice was somehow louder than both.

"Alright you dick, give me my purse back and I won't have you arrested."

"Dumb bitch," he sighed before turning.

Though he had never shot anyone before, the purse snatcher had been practicing this motion for weeks, ever since he first bought the gun. The guy who had sold it to him warned that sometimes shooting someone, for the first time, could be difficult. 'Sometimes people hesitate,' he'd explained.

The snatcher had the trigger pulled even before he fully turned, the explosion of cordite and the smell of hot metal filling his nostrils. He blinked, unable to see that the woman had been hurt or anything, so he fired off three more shots to be sure. The last one he aimed up, thinking that he might hit her head.

The communication between his eyes and his brain finally caught up to each other as he saw that the woman he had fired at was not in fact his most recent mark, but a young blonde woman wearing a business skirt and a fancy top. She had both hands out, reaching forward like she was trying to show him something, but as he started to lower his gun in confusion, the woman dropped her hands as well and inspected her top. He looked down to see that she was barefoot yet her feet looked clean. Had she run here?

"Come on man, I'm borrowing this top!" the blonde whined, holding the shirt thing up to show a bullet hole around the shoulder. He looked the girl over one or two times, searching for blood, but there was nothing. He glanced down again at the woman's feet and noticed then that three bullets were on the ground, all used. All .45 ammo.

"Who the hell are you?" he gaped.

The woman shook her head and walked toward him, his mark from earlier looking equally perplexed. He snapped out of his stupor long enough to aim his gun and fire another shot, but the blonde brushed her hand through the air Mr. Miyagi style and then whipped it in the air. A split second later he heard a bullet hit the wall next to him.

"A concerned citizen," the blonde said simply before pushing the gun out of the way and putting him in a headlock. He passed out after that.

Kara continued to hold the guy, pretending that she was putting him in a sleeper hold when in actuality she'd already knocked him unconscious with a tap to the head. Hiding her powers could be a bear to deal with. After a while she dropped the unconscious thief and picked up the purse, dusting it off before handing it to the woman she had heard screaming a minute ago.

"Thank you..." the woman said with wide eyes. "How did you do that? He had a gun."

"I have a lot of pent up aggression," Kara explained, eluding the question as she adjusted her glasses. It was weird to fight with them on. "Maybe it would be a good idea to call a cab. Do you have Uber on this Earth?"

"Huh?"

"I mean in this city, do you have Uber here?" Kara stumble tongued. "It might not be a good idea for you to walk home alone."

"Why?" the woman's shock faded and was replaced with a sneer, though not aimed at Kara. "I'm not afraid to walk alone at night. Why should I be afraid? I'm not the one with a problem."

"Yeah, go girl!" Kara smiled, holding her hand up for a high five.

The woman stepped back and walked away without another word. Kara still had her hand up, feeling cold from the lack of love.

"Is it me? Why's everyone being a butt today?"

***

Kara landed in the backyard, the cover of night protecting her from any watchful neighbors. She hoped. It was so quiet here in Ivy Town proper, it was hard for her to imagine anyone actually watching Oliver's house from a window or something. Nonetheless Kara made sure to keep her head down as she walked inside through the glass screen door that led to the kitchen.

"I know my brother appreciates any funding that can be provided in this matter, and if the governor- yes, I agree. Yes. Of course. That's great news, we'll schedule something next month. Amazing, thank you so much. Bye."

"That sounded promising."

Thea turned at Kara's voice, pressing a button on her phone and then smiling. "Supergirl, you startled me." 

"Sorry," Kara nodded. "At least you didn't throw a knife at me this time. And please, call me Kara."

"Kara it is. You and Ollie find anything on this device you're looking for?"

"I don't know what Oliver's doing," Kara responded, trying to keep a level tone in her voice. "I for one haven't found anything. Our surveillance is quiet and I couldn't pick anything up with super hearing. On the bright side I did stop a purse snatching... but I also lost your shoes, sorry."

"They were last season anyway," Thea laughed, brushing her hair over one ear even as strands already started coming loose, exuding an effortless beauty that Kara couldn't help but stare at before she cleared her head with a shake.

"Is everyone in the Queen family so effortlessly good looking?" Kara thought.

"What was that phone call about?" Kara asked out loud.

"Oh that," Thea shrugged and made an effort to act casual. "Just speaking to the governor's office about state funding for a clean needle program that Ollie wanted to start."

"Wait, what? That's amazing!" Kara felt herself gushing. "We should celebrate this accomplishment. Should we open a bottle of champagne or something?"

"Well, I think there might be some wine in the kitchen..."

"I'll get it," Kara announced.

"Actually, I'm not sure super speed and wine bottles are a safe mix," Thea held her hand out for Kara to stop while she pocketed her phone. "I'll get the wine, you take a seat."

"I actually wasn't... uh... thank you."

Kara sat down on the couch as Thea moved to the kitchen. Unable to keep from fidgeting, Kara spread some of the paperwork on the coffee table around, glancing at some forms and checklists that Thea had apparently worked on all day. Eventually Thea came back into the room with a bottle of red wine and Kara held up a form that she was particularly interested in.

"What's this?"

"It's a list of labor union demands. They're the same as last year so they just needed a signature for another year," Thea explained quickly, again shrugging off the seemingly very important work that she had been doing. "Do you know where Ollie would have kept a bottle opener? I couldn't find one and I left my sword in the car."

"No, but I can do one better," Kara smiled and took the bottle before placing her opposite hand on the wall. "You know the old shoe trick? I find super strength is just as good."

Raising the bottle up and back, Kara smashed the bottom of the bottle against her hand that was lying flat against the wall. Nothing happened so she did it again, adding the smallest increase of force to make sure she didn't shatter the bottle, and a loud pop was heard as the liquid inside hit the cork hard enough to knock it out. It was only half way out though, so Kara gripped it with her teeth and pulled it the rest of the way. Kara realized she had added a bit too much pressure when the cork shattered into a bunch of tiny crumbling pieces.

"You okay?" Thea asked as Kara frantically handed her the now open bottle.

"I'll be fine, I'll be fine, just pour," Kara explained between fits of coughing and spitting into the plastic garbage can full of shredded documents.

Once Kara managed to regain some semblance of her dignity back (this was not the first time she had eaten cork doing this trick) she and Thea sat down to some wine and got to know each other. They talked about school, jobs they had, general song interests and stuff like that. After a while, Kara couldn't help but think of Alex when she looked at Thea. Yes there were the obvious physical similarities, the dark features with short hair and slender figure, but there was a drive there too. Though Kara was a few years older, Thea carried an air of maturity and sophistication that Kara couldn't help but envy.

"Let me ask you something," Kara finally had the courage to bring up after Thea started pouring herself a third glass. "Why do you do all of this work for Oliver? I mean, I get why you do it, but like... why you? He was elected, he should have to do the work. It doesn't seem fair that you're benched just because he wanted to be mayor."

"Oh I didn't- I retired," Thea said after a moment of confusion. "My brother didn't bench me, I benched myself. I'm sure if Ollie had his way, I'd be back on the team and out there hitting the streets with him every night."

"Instead of doing his work?" Kara asked, hoping to hide her skepticism. "I get why being the mayor would help Oliver in being the Green Arrow, but doesn't it seem sort of... irresponsible? I have a job in my every day life too, and it's important work I think, but at the end of the day if I do a bad job then only I get fired, only I'm affected. If Oliver doesn't do a good job... people are counting on him. A city counts on their mayor."

"They do count on him and he comes through for them," Thea argued, her tone more distant. "Oliver was the best choice at the time."

"How do you mean?" Kara asked, having trouble imagining Oliver cutting ribbons at malls and kissing babies.

"Ollie's been doing this for a long time, off and on, and he always... even when he stopped the bad things from happening to Star City, and sometimes he couldn't, it always felt like it wasn't enough. We had gone through three mayors in three years, no one wanted the job, no one wanted to stand up to Damien Darhk... Star City was dying. My brother stood up when no one else would. Maybe he's not the most... mayoral choice, but he was there for the city when they needed him."

They sat in silence for a moment before Kara's guilt made her speak. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay," Thea sighed, her anger seeming to melt off to a kind of melancholy. "After I quit, helping Ollie be the mayor seemed like the best way to keep helping."

"Why did you quit?"

The question was burning on Kara's mind now as she thought back to the first time she met Thea as Speedy. She seemed good at it, capable, like she knew what she was doing, and Kara had been thrilled that there was another female superhero on Barry's Earth. When she found out that Thea was "retired" most of the time, Kara had sort of assumed it was at Oliver's urging to keep his sister safe. She hadn't considered Thea quitting.

And why would she? Kara loved being a hero, so did Clark, and even the other heroes on their Earth like the new Guardian in National City and the odd masked vigilante (who Kara had mixed feelings about) seemed to be doing the work out of a sense of duty, maybe even love. The drive that was needed to be a hero didn't seem like something you could just leave behind. Kara couldn't understand it and Thea's answer didn't help explain.

"I'm not sure if the whole hero thing is for me," Thea shrugged. "It's cool and it's fun and you... you really feel like you're helping people, but you never think about the toll it can take. The violence. The choices you're forced to make... I thought I owed it to myself to not go through that anymore."

"But it doesn't have to be that way," Kara argued. "You don't have to succumb to the violence or the darkness or do anything that compromises who you are. Maybe Oliver convinced you that it's the-"

"Hey, what is going on between you and my brother?" Thea asked then. "Every time you bring him up, you have this look on your face like he, I don't know, peed in your dog's food bowl or something. What's up?"

Kara sat on that for a moment, bouncing side to side on the couch as she decided whether or not she wanted to answer that question. Eventually she couldn't hold it in any longer, all the confusion and frustration from her earlier argument with Oliver boiling over.

"He's just so smug all the time, you know?" Kara started, pouring herself a generous glass of wine even though she was immune to getting drunk. "It's like, no matter what he does, who he hurts, what violent and stupid plan he comes up with, he's always in the right. Even when the choice is murder, something that is supposed to be antithetical to everything that we do! He's just so... arrogant!"

There were more words but Kara felt like she couldn't organize them properly so she just let out a general groan of irritation, laying back on the cushions as she let the wave of anger-heat fade away. Thea had been politely listening, but after Kara was done talking she placed her wine glass on the coffee table and stood up from the carpet to sit down in a lounge chair across from Kara.

"The thing that made me decide to quit... was something that happened when we were fighting Damien Darhk."

"The guy that... that Oliver killed," Kara clarified.

"Yeah, the right choice by the way," Thea added before continuing. "That sicko needed to die or no one would ever be safe, but I do wish Ollie would take killing off the table again. I feel like he isn't following a code anymore."

"He's working with the Russian mob," Kara added.

"Ugh, Bratva, the worst," Thea sighed. "But Darhk isn't what made me quit... it was his daughter."

Kara didn't say anything then, worried that she knew how this story would continue.

"Darhk was after this device that would help him destroy the world, no joke, there were nukes and everything, and to get it he was planning on murdering Felicity, her mother, Ollie, Dig, everyone. The only way to make him stop, the only way I could think of to make him stop... was to threaten his daughter. I took a nine year-old girl, held an arrow to her throat, and promised him that I would kill her if he didn't leave."

There was a moment where Kara wanted to say something but she decided against it. She felt like anything comforting would feel paltry and unnecessary compared to the toll it had clearly taken on Thea to tell this story. She also wasn't sure if she had any good answers. Kara knew what she would have done in that situation... as Supergirl. In Thea's position as Speedy though? If someone had been threatening Alex or Hank?

"I'm sorry," Kara finally offered.

"It's alright," Thea said quickly, trying to break the tension. "It worked. It saved my friends and my brother, and later they were able to stop Darhk and save the city. It was the right choice at the time and.... and even though I knew that, I still didn't like it. I didn't like knowing I had that in me. So I quit."

"It doesn't have to be that way though," Kara had the courage to argue. "The option doesn't always have to be black or white, life or death, right or wrong. Maybe you could have found another way. Maybe you could still be a hero and not be forced to make those decisions."

"Maybe, but it doesn't really matter. After that, I needed to take a step back, regain some clarity. I wanted to find out who Thea Queen is without Speedy," she took a breath and for the first time since she started telling this story, Thea smiled. "So far I like the person I've discovered."

"To Thea Queen," Kara held her glass up. "Maybe her brother will follow her example one day."

"No, but that's my point," Thea laughed and rolled her eyes. "I have the luxury of taking a step back and working through my choices. Ollie doesn't. Star City relies on him, and not just as mayor but as the Green Arrow. He's become the man that saved them from destruction and death and led us to a better tomorrow, who keeps leading us there, and I will always be proud of him for that."

"I don't want to diminish Oliver's accomplishments or... or talk smack or anything-"

"Ooh, don't say 'talk smack,' please."

"Right, sorry, but I do think your brother gets way too much latitude. Once you kill someone, once you decide to take the easy route, that's when you start sliding down a very slippery slope to becoming one of the bad guys. You saw that in yourself and stopped it but would your brother do the same?"

"Absolutely," Thea responded with zero hesitation. "Once, maybe you would have had a point. When he first got back from the Island, when he was working alone and he killed people without any hesitation, for sure... but he's changed. He's grown. He surrounds himself with people who help him and keep him in check."

"His team."

"Yes, and me. And the Flash. And- and even you."

"Me?" Kara almost laughed even as a heat came over the back of her neck.

"Yes of course you, he clearly respects you and your opinion Kara. I can see it in the way he talks to you, defers to you-"

"Tries to boss me around-"

"Believe me, he does that with everyone. That's not an Oliver thing, it's a dude thing."

All of a sudden Thea and Kara were both laughing. Even though she was still mad at Oliver, even frightened of the way he behaved earlier, Kara couldn't help but think better of him because of Thea. As someone who had the greatest older sister this side of the multiverse, Kara couldn't discount Oliver completely when he had a little sister who was so devoted to him. Now instead of Alex, Thea reminded Kara of herself.

"Older siblings always seem to walk on air, no matter what universe you're in," Kara thought to herself.

"Ollie just gets pushy sometimes," Thea said after the laughter died down a bit. "And when he makes decisions that seem dangerous... he isn't doing it because he likes it or he's... crazy or whatever."

"Then why?"

Thea took a breath before she nodded, placing her elbows on her knees as she spoke. "When I was nine years old, I wanted to have a big birthday party. I didn't have a lot of friends being 'Thea Queen, richest girl in boarding school' so I thought this would be a chance to become... I don't know, popular. My parents scheduled this party at our mansion and not a week later, this other girl in my class, Shannon Bower, scheduled her party at the exact same time and day as mine."

"Ugh, what a jerk!"

"I know, she grew up to be a real bitch too," Thea scoffed. "Anyway, my parents had already sunk money into this party and they wouldn't plan another one. I kept crying and crying about it but they didn't think it would teach a good lesson to give me a whole new party. So Ollie took it upon himself to rent out this huge Olympic-sized pool and ordered a bunch of slides built and bounce castles delivered and all this crazy stuff. He got this super famous singer I really liked to come and sing me happy birthday and- and my new friends would not shut up about it for months, it was great. He even filled the pool with Capri-Sun or Kool-Aid instead of water, or something dumb like that that he knew a little kid would love. And I always remember how he just did it, no questions asked. He didn't even really say anything to me. He just said it was for my birthday. I mean, I think he was trying to sleep with a lifeguard who worked at the pool or something, but other than that.

"A week later my parents found out when the police came to our house looking for Oliver. They wanted to fine him, put him in jail, it was a whole mess. Meanwhile my parents threatened to take away his trust fund, saying they'd sign him up for the navy or something crazy and despite all of this, Ollie still acted all cool, confident Ollie. He said, 'It's cool Speedy, don't worry about it, you get back to being popular.'"

"Great impression," Kara interjected.

"Thanks," Thea laughed.

"I wish I could have known him then," Kara said suddenly, trying to imagine Oliver ever acting so impulsive or silly. "Barry told me that Oliver learned how to fight after he spent five years on an Island, so I'm assuming he was different before?"

"He was, he is, but..." Thea paused then as if she were just realizing something. "Really he's the same guy deep down. The whole time he was getting chewed out by our parents, getting threatened with jail time by the cops, he never mentioned my name. He never said he did all of it for me, never tried to use me as an excuse, nothing. He just took the punishment, smiling the whole time."

"Why?" Kara asked before she realized how dumb that question was.

"Because that's who Ollie is, deep down in his bones. He protects the people he cares about no matter what. Back then it was about stupid stuff but now... now it's the important stuff. He's not afraid to get blood on his hands, he's willing to stain his soul in any way necessary, even kill people, as long as it keeps people safe."

"But doesn't he worry about what that might do to him?" Kara asked. "I mean, if he killed a hundred people to save your life... you would still lose him. In the ways that matter. You would still lose who he is, that goodness inside of him. He risks losing that by going to the darkness over and over."

"Maybe... but my brother has had to make some tough choices and he hasn't let those choices beat him. I promise you that I have very, very personal experience with someone justifying all of the awful, reprehensible things that they've done by saying it was all for me, and Ollie isn't like that."

Kara thought back on her parents, and the seemingly terrible things they had done on Krypton in the name of keeping her safe.

"No you're right, Ollie isn't like that," Kara finally agreed.

"I have faith that my brother is still that good person and that he will hold onto _being_ that person. So should you."

***

Oliver smashed the man's head into the table, feeling the legs give in a little from the force of the blow. Holding his head up, Oliver saw that the man had a deep gash running down his forehead and his eyes were weaving in different directions. By sheer luck the guy still had all of his teeth. Oliver smashed his head down on the table two more times to make sure he was going to stay down for a week.

Dropping the unconscious body, Oliver eyed the room for anyone but the only sounds left were some cracking chairs and groans of lost consciousness. One man who had been lying flat across the card table started to stir, but Oliver shot him in the leg before he could sit up. The man screamed for a few seconds before passing out from the pain.

Assured that the area was secure now, Oliver rolled his shoulders to work out the kinks he'd developed over the past fifteen minutes. Though none of these men knew a punch from a slap, and the few that were armed seemed blind in one eye, it was still twenty of them and it had taken time. Thankfully Oliver had had a lot of aggression to work out so really the whole thing felt cathartic. He placed the gun in his waistband even as a voice kept running through his head.

_"You're a jerk Oliver Queen!"_

After their fight, Oliver had reported back to the Bratva that he officially declared war on the Thinker and his men. Though Dmitri was annoyed and perplexed, he deferred to Oliver's rank as expected and agreed that war would be coming soon. After getting assurances that any plans or big moves would run through Oliver first, he left to hit the streets and pick up any info he could find. After questioning a few drug pushers, look outs, and Johns, Oliver had a location.

The basement of St. Elian's House of Mercy. It was an old church building that had doubled as a small pox treatment facility during the early days of American Settlement that had become abandoned over the past fifteen years. Since then it had become a place for homeless to sleep away from rain or the odd drug hand-off to happen. According to some, it had recently become a hideout for a group who often worked with Carmichael, giving Oliver all the reason he needed to bust in their doors.

Carmichael was playing everything very quiet, very careful. Though he had street connections, owning parts of what little drug trade there was in Connecticut (mostly stolen pharmaceuticals and pain killers) and having his plants in the police, it seemed like the Thinker didn't have any clear motives or plans. No one knew where he worked, most people didn't know what he looked like, and the guy wasn't interested in money. Every once in a while his group would put the word out for something, military equipment, Class 3 narcotics, the usual fare for someone trying to build a war chest. Other times there would be requests for more specialty items like medical equipment, Research databases, and even human subjects.

As far as anyone knew, the Thinker was otherwise self-funded and uninterested in what the rest of the criminal underworld was up to. People noticed that he had become more demanding and enforced more muscle than ever before, but otherwise Carmichael didn't really risk putting himself out there.

Until now. Oliver pulled a cell phone out of the bouncer's pocket, who was currently hanging by the neck out of a hole in the door, and started looking through the messages, emails, and personal notes. He eventually found the combination and walked over to the safe, dialing it open. Inside was another handgun, a few thousand dollars in cash, and two vials of clear liquid that Oliver examined in the light for a moment before pocketing them along with the gun and the cash.

_"You're a jerk Oliver Queen!"_

The word Oliver had caught was that for the first time, Carmichael was acting differently. He had created some sort of drug and was looking to market it, though he couldn't produce it on a large scale at the moment. He had given it to a few underground contacts, shopping it around to various high up criminals and high rollers, to see if there was business growth possibilities. That included sharing the drug with an underground casino that the Bratva sometimes associated with, so Oliver had popped in for a visit.

Stepping back into the cool night air, Oliver pulled off the balaclava mask and walked down the street, away from the way he came and towards a park where he could blend into the general populace and then go home. Along the way, Oliver popped open a donation bin for the local soup kitchen and dropped the wrapped up bills from the casino inside.

"Alright, time to face the music," Oliver muttered to himself as he turned west to head home.

***

"Hey Speedy, you here?"

Oliver shut the front door as softly as he could, hoping he could run into Thea, get a quick workout in, and then sneak off to bed without talking to Kara. While he was sure she could keep a level of professionalism when it came to being in the field, he didn't feel much like arguing her at the moment. Maybe it was a bad idea to try and sneak around someone with super hearing but Oliver was never one for giving up on a bad idea.

The plan came crashing down as Oliver passed the living room and immediately came face to face with Kara. She was sitting on the floor in front of the couch with the cushions at her back, a blanket wrapped around her as she typed on a laptop that was resting on the coffee table. After adjusting to the initial shock of seeing her, Oliver noticed that Kara had changed clothing. Her glasses were gone and her hair was down in a few lazy curls, and gone was the stylish top and business skirt for a Starling City Rockets t-shirt.

"Thea stepped out," Kara spoke first, keeping her head down and focused on the laptop. "She said she had some friends in the area she wanted to see? What kind of friends you meet at 11 at night, I don't know."

"Oh, probably the kind who don't like to start their night until it's after midnight," Oliver sighed.

"Ha, even in college I was an early to bed girl. Was never into that late night partying scene, unless you considered study sessions a party."

"In my experience, study sessions were the best part of college... though we rarely got any 'studying' done."

"Could you try and not be a pig for two minutes?"

Oliver almost made a guttural sound of discomfort, rubbing the back of his neck as he wished that he could be anywhere else. Fighting Ra's Al Ghul had felt like a more even match. He nodded a bit awkwardly before making his escape, not wanting to stick his foot in his mouth any further.

"Wait, wait, I'm sorry that was mean," Kara apologized, holding her hand out for Oliver to stop moving.

"It's fine," Oliver managed to grunt.

"No, no, look..." Kara pulled a few ringlets of blond hair. "I want you to understand where I'm coming from. A while ago, I was infected with this thing, Red Kryptonite, and it affected my mind. It pulled all of the darkest thoughts, the worst impulses, and brought them all out in the open. Killing people, gaining power for myself, taking anything from anyone just because I could... I felt it. I felt that part of myself and I almost crossed a line I wouldn't have been able to come back from. Only my friends saving me kept me from doing any real, lasting harm."

"I'm sorry," Oliver responded automatically. "That must have been frightening."

"It was. Because it made me all too aware of the fact that if I wanted to, if I just lost my head one day, I could do serious damage. I could kill thousands, maybe millions before anyone would be able to stop me. Making the rules blurry, saying that some things are gray or more complicated than right or wrong... it reminds me of the one time in my life when I truly lost control."

"Why are you telling me this Kara?" Oliver asked more harshly than he felt.

"I was being hard earlier, judgmental to the point of being myopic. I told myself that I was going to try and talk to you and the first thing I do is attack you? I don't know why I- you know what? Never mind, just go-"

He was sitting before she could finish, though Oliver chose the couch rather than the ground next to Kara, just to be safe.

"It's fine. You're not far off calling me a pig. I was not the best person before the Island, especially in the way I treated women."

"Really?" Kara asked with a sort of disbelieving smile. "Because Thea spent more than some time explaining to me that you haven't changed all that much. According to her, you were always this good, caring guy."

"Well that's nice to hear," Oliver hoped his laugh didn't sound too bitter. "But she's my sister. Back then, I barely had enough emotional depth to care about three people at a time."

"Now you have enough to care about an entire city," Kara's voice was strong and it made him feel strong. "You care enough to help a girl that you barely know, who's from a place you can barely comprehend, all so she can steal a device that matches no technology on this planet and repair an ailment that no normal doctor would be able to explain."

"Well I've always liked challenges," Oliver joked, earning a muted smile from Kara. "And that's not how I think of you."

"But it's how I need to remember myself," Kara rebutted, adjusting the blanket so it was bunched less around her arms and more around her waist. "Oliver, I want to apologize for-"

"Apology accepted."

Kara was startled into silence and stared blankly at Oliver before breaking into a fit of laughter. The corner of her eyes crinkled and she brushed both hands over her face, like she was trying to hide from him. Kara made a loud breathing sound into her hands before dropping them, a flush still on her face though she was calm again. He expected her to say something but after more silence, Oliver spoke.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing. I got angry and I tried to put the burden of all of this on you. That wasn't fair. That wasn't right. Helping someone isn't about who's right or who's at fault. Kara..." Oliver reached down to place his hand on her shoulder but as he did so she reached up and took his hand. "You're my friend. Your problems are my problems. I'm glad you came to me for help and I'm glad to help you."

Without looking at him, Kara nodded and they held hands like that in silence. It wasn't a long time, probably less than ten seconds... but it was a period of time where Oliver wasn't sure what would happen next. She refused to look at him so Oliver couldn't read any cues from her. He even felt her fingers running slowly against his palm. They had a sort of daintiness but there was strength in them too, not super strength. Like the rest of her, Kara's hands seemed to radiate brightness.

Eventually one of them must have let go though he couldn't be sure who did it first. She was still avoiding his eyes.

"You're a good man Oliver," she started. "But you're still just a man."

Kara placed her hands on the carpet to adjust the way she sat, scooting around so she and Oliver were sitting face to face. Now Oliver could see that Kara had practiced some sort of apology and was determined to get the words out.

"I've been judging you too harshly. Your methods are different than mine, and you're more used to blood. I've seen my share of violence, and I've fought really bad guys, but for some reason it felt like what I do was somehow... cleaner."

"Maybe it is."

"Maybe... but only because I have my powers, the support of my Earth's government, I even have my cousin who, when push comes to shove, is one of the greatest heroes in the galaxy and will always help me when I need it. I've never experienced hopelessness."

"Never?"

"No, not never in my life... but never as Supergirl," Kara clarified as she looked down at her lap and fidgeted with the blanket around her legs. "I mean, it's one thing to decide that the only way to save the world is by sacrificing yourself, I understand that kind of heroism. But the willingness to do anything, even terrible things to save the world... that thought scares me. Not because I'm afraid of death or hard times or, or..."

"I never doubted how strong you are," Oliver interrupted.

"It's not about strength though, it's about what matters. Is it more important that I feel like a hero, or is it more important that people are safe?" Kara stopped fidgeting then and her tone was stronger. "If it came down to my life or the world, I choose the world every time. But if it came down to someone else's life and there was no way out, no other choice... would I be able to do it? Would I be able to cross that line?"

"Hopefully you'll never have to."

"But it's too late for you, isn't it?"

Oliver almost said something but no words came to mind so Kara continued.

"I don't mean that as a judgment, it's just the truth, right? You decided at some point that killing is sometimes the only way. I always thought that if you cross that line it's over for you, you're just as bad as the bad guys. Then I met you and my one rule is proven wrong. My one rule that is supposed to protect me from those darker urges."

Kara finally looked at him and Oliver never felt more exposed.

"Because you're not a villain or a monster or anything like that, I know that. I almost wish you were! It would be so much easier to just write you off as a murderer. But you're not. You've killed because you had to... but more importantly, you've killed so that people like me don't have to."

There was a moment where Oliver felt something coming up his throat so he looked up to the ceiling and closed his eyes, focusing his breathing to calm his heart rate and let the blood flow return to a more languid pace. He worried for a moment that Kara was going to reach out and touch him and he wasn't sure he would be able to handle that, but she stayed still. Breath under control, Oliver slid down off the couch so he could sit on the ground next to Kara, his knees folded up as he wrapped his arms loosely around them.

"I have killed people for the wrong reasons too," Oliver admitted. "The first time is the hardest and it gets easier every time after that. I'm almost numb to it now. It's not wrong to want a better standard."

"You're right and to want that standard for myself, with all of my powers, isn't the wrong choice," Kara scooted herself around again so they were sitting side by side with the couch behind them, her arm pressing against his. "But being a hero is more than beating up bad guys and saving people. It's more than just living up to whatever ideals other people tell us we're supposed to follow. It's about doing the hard things when no one else can or will. Even when the hard thing is deciding when it's right to kill someone... and when it's right to believe in them. Every person deserves the chance to try again and make more good in the world, and you're no exception Oliver Queen."

Technically Oliver broke first. Even before she finished speaking, he felt his hand sliding down his leg to the carpet, inching it's way closer to Kara's lap. As she finished, he took one of her hands and pulled slightly, though just for a second. He was about to pull Kara into him, to feel closer to that warmth, but at the last second he chickened out and all he ended up doing was tugging lightly on her hand.

Kara finished it though when she pulled back, hard enough that Oliver's face was suddenly inches away from hers. He thought they were about to kiss but instead his face went over her neck and Kara wrapped him up in her arms. His hands were frozen before catching on and wrapping around Kara's back, pulling her deeper into his chest. He felt like he might be squeezing too hard but underneath all of that addictive softness was steel.

Her hair was another story though. Along her neck and running behind her ears was a fresh, floral scent that mixed in with the usual avocado smell that Oliver had grown to recognize. He ran his chin down the slope of that neck as it continued to her shoulder, pressing his nose against the soft cotton of her borrowed t-shirt that was mixing with the clean, soft smells that was just Kara Danvers.

She ended it first, pulling back with an inscrutable look on her face. Oliver let her go and avoided looking when Kara had to adjust the shirt where he had pressed his face. Her movements were shy but not angry. After his hand slid away from her back, the last of their physical contact, Oliver felt safe to finally give voice to his gratitude.

"I hope I live up to your faith in me."

"You will," Kara whispered softly, saying the next part in an even tone. "Though next time you have a plan as crazy as using the Russian mob, maybe run it by me first? A heads up would have helped my reaction to the whole thing."

"Noted."

The awkwardness that had floated in the air before was now sitting right between them, loud and demanding their attention. Oliver wanted to keep talking, to have this moment somehow extend longer, but he was lost as to what he should say. What Kara needed him to say.

"Oh! Thea showed me this," Kara offered with barely hidden excitement as she moved away slightly and started pulling up a file on the laptop. "She said she just got a bunch converted... here! Ta-daa!"

Oliver was about to stand so he could move closer and look at the screen, when Kara instead picked up the laptop with one hand and moved back to sit with him in front of the couch. She held the laptop on her knees and leaned into Oliver's side. So he could see the screen better most likely. Her knee was knocking lightly against his through the blanket. Kara nudged him in the shoulder, pointing at the screen again.

There were a series of photos in a block, all pictures of Oliver and Thea when they were kids. Baby Thea's first time home from the hospital in his mother's arms, Oliver's later tenth birthday party, his first day of high school, Thea's first piano recital, a picture of him and Laurel as sophomores holding hands, Tommy hanging Thea over a pool by the ankles, his parents. So many old pictures of his parents. Memories and moments of his life that he had forgotten until now.

"Oliver?"

He shook away the spirits.

"Sorry, I just... didn't prepare myself," he explained. "I don't think about the past that much."

"Maybe you should start," Kara offered. "I have so little of my parents, of my home, sometimes I worry that I won't be able to remember them the right way. I would love to have pictures of them like this. Moments preserved for us to revisit in the present."

"You're 25?" Oliver joked. "Because you talk like someone much older."

"Oh I am old Oliver Queen, don't you know? I was stuck in space where time stands still for over 20 years. Technically I'm 67 years old."

"I had a feeling," Oliver laughed. "Older women always have a certain air about them."

"What 'aiiiir' is that?" she asked in mock offense.

"An air of..." Oliver wasn't sure what he was about to say. Sophistication? Style? Sexuality? His hesitation went a bit too long and after a while Kara turned away from the computer screen waiting for him to speak. Waiting for him to move. Waiting for something.

"...confidence," he finally whispered.

Kara just continued to hold eye contact, not blushing or smiling or frowning or anything that Oliver could read. Her face seemed almost blank, like she was in the middle of a thought. Oliver felt an unwilling smile come to his face and he saw an equally unwilling smile come to her face. It had been a while since Oliver felt out of control like this, but Kara didn't seem to mind.

Then something strange happened. Kara lightly gripped Oliver's collar and pulled there, urging him closer even though he didn't think they could physically be any closer. While her pull wasn't forceful it didn't have any hesitation as Oliver slid to his right, about to lose his balance unless Kara helped hold him up. Then Kara's grip weakened suddenly and Oliver waited to see what she would say, his face inches from hers, his lips brushing next to her cheek, but instead of speaking Kara closed her eyes. For a crazy second he thought she was puckering up for him with both eyes closed, like Stephanie Guildheart did for her first kiss in the seventh grade. Then he recognized the pain happening behind those eyes.

Not just pain but nausea too. The red tinge in Kara's cheeks faded away to be replaced by a sunken, pale discoloration. It happened so quickly that Oliver assumed she was about to throw up so he moved back, gathering as much of Kara's hair into his hand to pull it off of her neck. When he gripped her hair though, Kara brushed him off.

"What the hell? I'm not into hair pulling," she griped as she gathered her legs under her and stepped away. For a split second Oliver saw that Kara was just in her underwear, satin blue elastic stretched across her rear under Thea's long t-shirt, but those thoughts moved far away from his mind when Kara started stumbling. He had seen her lift a semi-truck with one hand, so getting a head rush from standing was alarming.

"Sorry I'm not wearing bottoms, I spilled wine on the pajamas Felicity gave me," Kara mumbled, though she clearly didn't care about modesty at the moment. "I just... suddenly I felt really warm and... sick? Like sea sick? Is this what that is?"

"Slow down, talk to me," Oliver stood and followed her as she stumbled again, having to balance herself on the wall.

"It was small at first but I'm noticing it now, you're the one making me weak," Kara explained, causing Oliver to worry that he had presumed on Kara's forgiveness somehow. "I thought at first it was about my... our... but this is physical. I feel physically sick."

"I don't..." Oliver immediately started reaching into his pockets, placing the three guns he had stolen on the coffee table, along with his keys and some notes and cash, his wallet and his phone, his burner phone, three flechettes... and the vial.

The vial that held the Thinker's new designer drug was reacting somehow, the liquid inside bubbling and frothing. It looked like the fluid was trying to break through the top of the vial, though the plastic stopper was held too tightly in place. Oliver wondered if it was boiling somehow but the vial was cool to the touch.

"Let me see that," Kara ordered as she swiped the drug from Oliver's hands and then almost immediately dropped it. Thankfully Oliver's reflexes were not as shaken as his wits and he managed to catch it before it fell into the carpet.

"Where did you get that?" Kara asked, almost panting now as she wiped sweat off her forehead. Oliver didn't know she could sweat.

"I took this from an Underground casino in Hartford. They were holding a designer drug for testing that was made by the Thinker. I thought we could analyze it for clues, find out if he has a lab in another location, maybe even figure out his endgame."

"What's in it?"

"I-I don't know," Oliver said as it dawned on him. "He could have put anything in it..."

"That stuff is made of an element from another universe. My universe, I'm sure of it. There's Kryptonite in there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed, leave a comment and/or a kudos! If you didn't enjoy, you're dead to me but also still leave a comment!
> 
> BTW, if you want to ask broader questions about the story (or updates on the next chapter) you can follow me on tumblr at roddytheruin.tumblr.com


	8. Chapter 8 - It's Complicated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Kara have an interesting day of pot roast, arson, and espionage. And feelings. Many feelings.

The music thrummed with a heartbeat that consumed dozens of people on the dance floor, swinging and swaying and drinking. Purple and blue flashes moved across the floor from overhead, giving everyone a greater feeling of anonymity and debauchery. Some people were pumped up and moving with the beat, almost trying to outrace the rhythm of the song, while others just swayed and held one another, touching and caressing and even licking each other as they were swallowed by feeling in the room.

Like islands in a rushing sea, four or five largely built men in dark suits walked across the dance floor, by the bar, in front of the bathrooms and more importantly in front of the main office door. Amidst all this rush of noise and emotion, they were still and focused on the job at hand. There was almost no way to miss them if you paid the slightest bit of attention.

Because underneath this club was a secret, and Oliver knew all about keeping secrets.

“Oooh, thank you!” Kara cheered in a bubbly voice as a waiter brought her cocktail. Orange liquid in a martini glass with sugar on the rim and not just two but three cherries. As she took a sip, her shoulders were still moving back and forth in a half-hearted dance, her eyes closed and unfocused.

Oliver took his single shot of Imperia vodka and went back to watching the men on the dance floor who were not dancing, noting their foot patterns and attention habits. There was always something to see if you were patient enough.

“You’ve gotta try this!” Kara shouted over the music. “It’s sooooo good!”

Oliver sighed. “Kara, we need to be focusing.”

“Focus?” she asked with a giggle. “We’re in a club Ollie, there’s no way we’re going to be able to see anything.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.”

“Of course I know that,” Kara rolled her eyes as she spoke. “That’s why I’ve x-rayed the back room like three times and have my super hearing keyed in. The moment I catch word of Pollen or anything else involved with the Thinker, I’ll tell you.”

“I just want to make sure we get to this stuff before it gets to you,” Oliver explained, less annoyed and more concerned.

After poking through files in the Hartford PD database, Oliver and Kara had learned a bit more about the designer drug that the Thinker was trying to get onto the streets. Apparently it was called “Pollen” due to the fact that you took it through a breathing apparatus, inhaling the drug in aerosol form. It was purported to have similar effects on people as MDMA, psychedelic visions and feelings of euphoria, with more manageable side effects.

“So far though Pollen hasn’t really been a problem for us,” the Sergeant in charge of the Drug Enforcement Task Force had explained.

“How so? Does your department lack research about Pollen?” Kara had asked while Oliver let her take the lead. Again Kara had posed as a reporter for the Central City Picture News, on assignment in Connecticut due to related stories about the Thinker in Central City. It was a lie that she had come up with quickly and again Oliver was impressed at her ingenuity.

“No, nothing like that, it’s just coming into the market at a lower volume,” The Sergeant explained, charmed by Kara even as she asked him questions that were tougher than he might have expected. “We still have streams of illegal painkillers, cocaine, and heroin coming through the regular channels. We want to focus and get those drugs off the streets before we even look at Pollen. According to our C.I.’s, no one has even bought the stuff in felonious quantities.”

Until today. The surveillance that they had set up on the Thinker’s base in Ivy Town finally gave them something. A report that someone had sent to the Thinker over a secure line (that Felicity’s back-door program had completely accessed) explained that they would be purchasing a large quantity of Pollen, to begin making efforts at selling the drug on larger scales. Oliver and Kara decided to cut that off before the drug became a bigger issue.

After witnessing the sale, a large moving truck meeting with a Black Compact behind an abandoned naval training base, Oliver and Kara had taken down the seller and took the briefcase of money that was supposed to be delivered to the Thinker. Kara had been uncomfortable appropriating the $77,000,000.00 dollars of funding, but Oliver assured her that it would be quietly distributed to various charities through a program he wrote five years ago. They made sure that the attack looked like a robbery so Thinker stayed unaware of their presence in Ivy Town. Eventually they followed the moving truck back to the Echo Nightclub. A nightclub owned by the Bratva.

“Well that’s disappointing,” Oliver had sighed from a rooftop ledge. “I guess the Bratva and Carmichael reached an accord of some kind. He probably gave them exclusive selling rights of this new drug.”

“A bunch of criminals being susceptible to a bribe? Man, things really are different on this Earth,” Kara had joked, pulling the balaclava off of her face though still wearing it on her head as it contained her noticeable, blond hair. “Does this mean you’re giving up on using the Bratva? Cause I think we can handle this ourselves.”

“The Bratva provide useful information and are tapped into criminal resources that Carmichael wants,” Oliver had defended. “If they’re working with Carmichael instead of fighting him, all the better. The closer they get to him the more information they’ll have for us.”

“Which they’ll just freely give you?” Kara asked.

“If I asked but I won’t. If Oliver Queen takes too much of an interest in the Thinker, that will be just as suspicious. But I know how the Bratva operates. I know where they’ll hide any information they get on Thinker.”

“Alright then Ollie,” Kara had pressed her chin against her own shoulder when she looked at him. “What’s the plan?”

Oliver pretended to sigh in thought. “I don’t know… wanna go dancing?”

“You promised me dancing!” Kara shouted over his memories, popping a cherry into her mouth. “This seems like a lot of sitting, which is fun but not quite as fun. My funness is at risk.”

“What, my company isn’t enough for you?” Oliver dryly asked, all the while watching the dance floor.

“I don’t know… usually good company spends a little more time paying attention to me.”

That worked on him somehow. Turning from the dance floor, Oliver looked at Kara just as she pulled on the stem of a cherry that was in her mouth, tugging it with playful care until it snapped and she flicked it at his face. The fake plastic-like stem was about to hit and Oliver almost reached up to catch it, but instead he stopped his reflexes and let it happen. When the stem brushed against his nose Oliver flinched lightly, causing Kara to giggle as she finished chewing.

“You’re not the only one with good aim,” Kara said with pride as she straightened her back and puffed out her chest in a mock display of victory. “Oliver Queen, you have failed this date.”

“Date?” he asked with an uncontrolled laugh.

Kara’s smile wiped away and her knowing look became wide-eyed surprise. “Not a date, don’t know why I said date, this isn’t that. This is a professional outing, very professional. Not a date. I was making a joke, like a cheeky joke not a haha joke? Like not funny but cute. Not that- I’m not cute, I’m professional.”

Kara stopped talking and focused on taking a long gulp of her drink. Oliver frowned to help hide the smile that threatened to come to his face, brushing his hand over his mouth as he looked at the dance floor again. The muscle men were still holding pattern. He risked a few seconds of focus by picking the stem up off the table and popping it in his mouth, giving Kara his best Amanda Waller death stare for a few seconds before pulling the stem out of his mouth, tied into a knot.

After a breathless laugh, Kara looked down and away from Oliver before swinging her eyes back to his with a look he knew. A look of promise. This time Oliver knew it was best to stay quiet, so he and Kara just sat in the silence that they had created under all of the noise.

Then Kara frowned. “I heard someone say ‘bring them in,’ in the back room.”

Oliver glanced at the dance floor and saw the guards changing position. “Okay, it’s happening now. Remember the plan?”

“Find a way into the men’s room, wait for the signal, go super. I’ve got it.”

“Then let’s take care of this,” Oliver nodded.

Oliver walked over to the bar while Kara stood, polished off her drink, and walked over to the restrooms. The office area was next to the bar at the end of the dance floor, so Oliver had to cut through a mass of sweaty, undulating drunks. He made sure to maintain focus on the club’s muscle and saw that they were now setting the new guard formation. Some went into the office while others exited to start circulating the bar areas. Standing by the door that led to the office, Oliver slipped his hand under the divider that separated the bar from the dance floor.

“Get me two bottles of champagne for table 7!” Oliver shouted, nodding his head at his and Kara’s table while reaching underneath the bar and snagging two bottles. “Put it on my tab, the name is Squirrel.”

Promising himself he wouldn’t let Kara make up any more code names, Oliver walked away with both bottles in hand and entered the office. Holding them up he saw that they were bottles of vodka which would work perfectly for his purposes. Oliver was swaying and laughing as he stared down four men with guns and two older men who were standing by a desk with a schedule in front of them.

“Whoops, what is this? You’re not my frat brothers? Who are you? Tommy, where you at!?”

The guards reacted first, two of them grabbing Oliver by the wrists. Oliver gave a few drunken requests of leniency but nonetheless they dragged him toward a side-door that Oliver knew from city blueprints, that Kara acquired, led to an alley. As one of the guards let go of Oliver’s wrist to open the door, Oliver quickly yanked his hand free and swung the bottle against the back of the man’s head. The bottle didn’t break, as planned, so Oliver could swing it across his body and into the nose of the other guard. Both gripping their heads in pain, Oliver had little trouble kicking them both in the leg to knock them down and then finish them off with a kick and then a throat punch.

The other two guards and the two bosses were still too stunned to move, so Oliver took the opportunity to keep making moves. Tossing one of the vodka bottles into the air, Oliver then used that free hand to throw a flechette that was up his sleeve at the control panel for the building’s security and emergency response system. Then he caught the bottle as it fell before throwing it bottom end first at the four men, specifically the desk with all of their paperwork. The bottle shattered in a shower of alcohol, and that woke the guards up.

The guards walked over to the opposite wall and grabbed mounted rifles, pointing them at Oliver and shouting. Not wanting to be shot, Oliver nodded and acquiesced, putting his hands up and kneeling on the ground though he kept the bottle of vodka in hand. Oliver counted to five in his head before shouting.

“Gemini!”

Two arms burst through the wall and gripped the rifles, pulling back to smash both men into the wall and knocking them unconscious. As the dust cleared and the two bosses stared at the destruction of their office in mute horror, Oliver moved. Running toward them and stepping up onto the desk, Oliver grabbed a ball-point pen off of the pile of papers before throwing himself feet first at one of the men. The double kick to his neck and chest knocked the one man out instantly. While Oliver landed on the man’s chest, he managed to reach over and stab the ballpoint pen into the other man’s throat. The man was on the ground choking and gasping while Oliver tossed the second vodka bottle up into the air.

Two twin beams of energy hit it in midair, making it explode in a cascade of fire and heat that sprinkled all around the office. The vodka already smothered across the desk caught first but soon every part of the office was covered in flames.

“Efficiency,” Oliver explained as Kara broke open one of the holes she had made to come into the room. “We take the fastest way to get in, get out, and deploy objectives per a plan. It works.”

“Yeah but you didn’t tell me the part where you kill a guy,” Kara seethed as she brushed debris and drywall off of the clubbing dress that she’d borrowed from Thea.

“He’ll be fine,” Oliver defended as he knelt down and yanked the pen out, causing the man to scream in pain. “See? Can’t make noise like that unless you’re very much alive.”

The man continued to scream for a little longer, holding a hand to the hole in his neck until Oliver decided that he’d had enough rest. The room was literally on fire after all.

“K, there are three more down in the basement if I counted right. Could you get them while you grab the package?” Oliver asked as he brushed a bit of falling, flaming debris off his shoulder.

“Alright, just promise me you’ll go easy on this guy,” Kara said reluctantly before going to the secret door that was seamlessly blended into the wall. She smashed a fist into it to get through.

“Hiring that meta was the best decision I ever made,” Oliver said to add some color to their lie before he grabbed the man by the collar, ignoring the way that made it run across the hole in his neck. “I don’t know who you are or who you work for, and you don’t know me. We’ll all be happier if it stays that way, alright?”

“Okay, okay…” he gasped in pain.

“How did you get in contact with the Thinker? Why did he give you a supply of Pollen?”

“He reached out to one of my guys, I don’t know why. I think he might be double-dipping,” the man gritted his teeth in annoyance at the thought. Oliver helped him refocus by pressing a thumb against the pen-hole. “Stop, stop, he-he just brought me an offer, said I could have 70% sales of the stuff. I couldn’t pass it up. I needed something to keep the club going, you know? People like to party!”

“I’m running out of patience and you’re running out of time,” Oliver threatened as the wall grew more enflamed, soon to spread into the club itself.

“He only communicates through couriers! I don’t have a phone number or anything to give you!” the man panicked, gripping Oliver’s hands to try and escape. “The guy who works for me, the contact, his name is Randall Fletcher. His street name is Fleece, like with sheep. That’s really all I know!”

“I believe you.”

Oliver punched the guy in the face to knock him out while Kara came up from the secret basement, three unconscious men piled one on top of the other on her shoulder. She held a cooler-sized case in the other hand. Oliver carried his new friend through the side door to the alley and dumped him unceremoniously onto a pile of garbage before going in to grab the rest of them. With Kara’s help they got all of the men out of the office just as everything really started to burn.

Then it was safe to pull the flechette out of the security panel and rewire it, the club’s emergency alarms going up for both a break-in and the fire. Oliver left the sprinkler system disconnected though.

“Alright, we’ll supervise the evacuation as needed.”

Crouching down on the roof where he and Kara first found the club, Oliver watched as a stream of dancers and drug heads spilled out of the front doors, the building smoking and crackling. The basement would have been an inferno by now and the office burned to a crisp, leaving no evidence of their presence. Kara laid the case of Pollen on the ground as she leaned forward near the edge to watch the fire.

“I don’t see anyone else left in there. I think our… ‘mission’ worked.”

“Now Thinker has no reason to suspect anything but a fire happened here, unfortunate but not suspicious. He’ll have to assume all of his Pollen burned down and he’ll need to make more-“

“Hopefully giving us a chance to find out how he’s making it and why it has Kryptonite as its main ingredient,” Kara finished.

“You did well in there,” Oliver offered.

“Thanks, I was a bit nervous. I’m more used to the head-on approach.”

“The head-on approach works but sometimes you need a subtler hand.”

“Did your ‘conversation’ get you any answers?” she asked, her tone a bit challenging but not angry.

“Just a name, Randall Fletcher,” Oliver recited before he stood up from crouching, appropriately convinced that the fire no longer needed to be watched. “If we put feelers out there for this guy, we’ll have better luck getting intel on Thinker.”

“Kryptonite…” Kara mused as Oliver pulled out some climbing ropes. “Why would he be using it? It doesn’t make sense. I mean he’s basically making a party drug. Why use such a strange ingredient unless it has something to do with me?”

“I don’t know, I agree that it doesn’t make sense but we’ll figure it out. Once we do, we’ll know Thinker’s plan and be able to better respond and take him down.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t be so cautious,” Kara tried to argue even as Oliver was rappelling down the side of the building while she floated alongside, carrying the briefcase of Pollen. “If he has Kryptonite, it means he’s accessing things on my Earth that are supposed to be confidential, meaning he can probably get his hands on anything anywhere. The longer we wait, the more powerful he gets.”

“I get that,” Oliver nodded as hit feet touched the ground. “But you’re thinking about it the wrong way. Thinker was already dangerous. Now if he has access to Kryptonite, he’s an active threat to you. Best to stay in the shadows so we can strike when we’re ready and define the battlefield ourselves.”

“I just-“

Oliver pressed the joint between his thumb and forefinger to Kara’s neck, rubbing softly but purposefully. She stopped looking at the fire in thought and instead sagged into his grip, regulating her breathing like he showed her. The glow from the fire gave Kara an almost gaunt, haunted look that made her strangely more beautiful. She was usually all rounded edges and bright colors, but even in shadows she was striking.

“On our timetable, not his,” Oliver repeated.

“Our timetable,” Kara nodded before she suddenly had a goofy grin on her face that worried him. “You know what I need? A distraction. Do you know of any good distractions going on tonight Ollie?”

He couldn’t pull his hand away fast enough. Oliver rubbed the back of his head as he tried escaping but Kara took his other hand in both of hers and followed, still giggling a little. It was grating and distracting at the same time.

“Oh what could we do tonight? What oh what oh what…?” she sang to herself.

“Enough, we’ll do it. I just need to stop for some wine first.”

***

"Oh! Oh! Hello!"

"Hello Laura, good to see you," Oliver gave the woman a hug before stepping back. "Laura, you remember my friend Kara Danvers?"

"Hello," Kara said with a small wave, keeping back from the door.

"Yes of course, welcome!" Surprisingly she reached out to hug Kara as well. "You two settle inside. I'll take that bottle Oliver. You go talk to Adam for a bit while I figure out this broiler."

"A broiler? You're copping out on me Laura!" Oliver shouted harshly, startling Kara until she saw that Laura was laughing and playfully slapping him on the shoulder.

"Oh hush, it's just faster this way."

"Hey, I'll take your oven away if you keep disrespecting it," Oliver said with a strange look on his face. It took Kara a moment to realize that he was making a joke.

"Oliver Queen, you touch my oven and I'll tan your hide."

"Is that a promise?"

Laura and Oliver laughed at that for a few seconds, Oliver still looking like his regular composed self while Laura was practically doubling over, screaming like she was being murdered right in front of them. Kara laughed along at first but after a while she felt awkward and remained silent. She caught Oliver's eye and raised an en eyebrow to try and ask him what the hell was going on but he just shrugged.

"A white? I always thought you preferred red?" Laura asked as she looked at the wine they had brought, pulling a shelf out of the wall to reveal a wine rack.

"Well Kara prefers whites so I thought it would be nice-"

"I'm sorry, but did you build this wine rack or did it come with the house?" Kara asked, incapable of restraint as she watched Laura push the wine rack back into the wall.

"Oh, well the rack itself was from a hardware store, but Adam built this cabinet. He put the tracks in so it could slide in and out like that, it's very neat."

"Neat? More like back-breakingly difficult!" A man's voice came from the living room.

"Wow, that's truly impressive Mr. Hoffman," Kara awkwardly shouted into the living room, wanting to talk to him face to face but unable to make herself go into a room in a strange house that she wasn't given proper permission to enter. Manners.

"He did it for my birthday," Laura explained, acting exasperated but smiling the whole time. "For weeks he kept telling me that he was going to get me these gloves I saw in a magazine, even showed me the receipt from Macy's and everything-"

"Wait," Oliver swung around with sudden agility to point one finger at Laura while his other hand was in his back pocket. "You don't mean those Dior gloves you'd wanted so badly?"

Kara was pretty sure she only managed to keep her jaw from falling to the ground because of super strength. A human woman would have been helpless but to gape and stare at this strange creature who had kidnapped and replicated Oliver Queen. She actually knew alien species that did that to procreate. Laura was saying something but Kara couldn't hear her. She just stared at Oliver who eventually looked back, questioning her with a look. Kara shook her head, mouthing "Who are you?" over and over until Laura's story ended.

"It was so romantic, like something out of a Nicholas Sparks move."

"Mmm, yes, the Notebook," Kara responded, her brain still not quite recovered.

"Oh, don't get Oliver started on the Notebook. How many times have we seen that movie together?"

"Three times," Oliver chuckled.

She had no response. Her brain was too busy questioning everything ever. Was God real? Was World Peace possible? Oliver Queen watching the Notebook? Three times? By choice? All rules were out the window.

"What am I doing? Away, away with you two!" Laura started shooing them out. "Go grab a drink with Adam and watch the Browns do terribly."

As Oliver led them into the living room, he glanced back at Kara for a whisper. "What's wrong?"

Kara kept a straight face, "I'm trying to figure out when you were replaced by a body snatcher."

"Be nice," is all he responded.

They sat with Adam Hoffman for a while after that. Kara thought he was nice enough, the kind of suburban goofy dad that you would expect. At times though Adam could be a little too much of a guy. She had caught him glancing at her legs one too many timesin Felicity's burgundy-red dress. This dress thankfully was a little bit longer and came to at least near Kara's knees. More importantly Kara was able to wear underwear and spanx underneath so she was less worried about a wardrobe malfunction.

For most of the time Kara just sat and listened. A football game was on and Kara recognized the teams but didn't have much to contribute. Oliver admitted that he had fallen behind with this season but Adam was all too happy to give him a rundown. After that they just talked about sports and football players and stereotypical guy things so Kara spaced a bit. Watching Oliver and Adam chat, she began to see that Oliver was even moving differently. He usually tended to move with a lot of precision, no fidgeting or awkwardness, almost like a cat. When he was talking with Adam though, his gestures were more animated, his voice pitch varied more often, and he was more expressive. He smiled and shouted about silly things that annoyed him and laughed at dumb jokes... he acted like a dude.

"So I've gotta ask because Laura wants to know desperately but is too afraid to... what really happened with you and Felicity?" Adam finally dropped between sips of beer.

Oliver was just finishing off a bottle himself as Laura came in and took the empty and handed him a new one. Kara had a suspicion that Laura would have found a reason to come into the room through any means necessary.

"Well... it's pretty simple when you get down to it," Oliver sighed though clearly he was no longer emotional about the topic. "I lied to her. Nothing terrible, I didn't cheat on her or hide any bodies under our bed, but it was something personal. I made a judgment call, it was the wrong one, and eventually she found out and decided she couldn't trust me anymore."

"Wow, that sucks man," Adam said with what seemed like genuine concern while Laura shook her head sadly and walked back to the kitchen.

'What was the lie about? What did you hide from her?" Kara asked, her curiosity killing her.

Oliver hesitated. "I told... I found out I have a son."

Both Kara and Adam reacted the same way, sitting up like they just got blasted in the face by a powerful wind. Kara's super hearing picked up a small gasp from the kitchen as well as the sound of a knife awkwardly slipping off the edge of a cutting board. Oliver took their reactions in stride but stayed silent otherwise.

"Wow, a kid... congratulations Oliver. Truly," Adam announced, holding his beer up in a salute. Kara noticed that that relaxed Oliver somehow.

"Well the way I acted back in the day, I was sure to have some kids out there. I'm lucky it was only the one," Oliver joked as he leaned back in the easy chair that was next to Adam's, Kara between them on the couch. "His mother and I reached an agreement about my involvement in my son's life, and everything worked out."

"Maybe Felicity will come around. It was just one mistake. The not mentioning him part, not the um, having the child part," Adam awkwardly fumbled.

"What's his name?" Kara wondered.

"William. My son's name is William."

Adam thankfully managed to move their attention onto a new topic when one of the teams scored a touchdown. He started cheering and stood up, looking expectantly at Oliver. It took him a second but Oliver eventually put his beer down and stood to receive the chest bump that Adam gave him. Oliver glanced over at Kara, wallowing in his shame, and Kara didn't offer any sympathy. She continued to shame him silently with her eyes. Adam explained that he needed to pee after every touchdown, for superstitious reasons, so he zipped off leaving them alone.

"You really have a son? That wasn't secret identity stuff?" Kara questioned him.

"I really have a son. He's nine years old."

Now Kara was really thrown for a loop. "Wow... I really don't know you at all."

Oliver looked thoughtful at that. "Maybe not yet."

There wasn't much time for Kara to react. Adam came back into the room and the conversation shifted to sports again until Laura eventually called them for dinner. Kara was about to offer to help but Oliver beat her to the punch, so Kara and Adam sat as Oliver and Laura served them. A delicious looking roast was in a bed of chopped fennel and couscous but it all kind of blurred together for Kara when she saw that there were mini egg rolls as a side dish. Now her life was only about those egg rolls and how many she could fit in her mouth at once.

She tried to remember that they were guests. She tried to remember that this was mixed company. She even tried to remember to chew with her mouth closed. To no avail, Kara was soon plowing through the egg rolls and had had two servings of roast before she caught Oliver looking a little alarmed. Laura and Adam seemed not to notice but they were also doing a very good job of not looking at her directly. Kara forced herself to slow down when Oliver feather-brushed her arm with a finger.

"Everything alright?" he whispered.

"I just really like food.".

Oliver nodded in acceptance and went back to talking to Laura and Adam. The married couple were sitting on one side of the dining table, Kara and Oliver the other, with the food and a large vase of Anemones between them. The table cloth even had beautiful quilted stitching. It was a bit Home and Garden, but Kara could feel the love that was built into every piece of this house.

"Mrs. Hoffman, you keep such a lovely home," Kara jumped into the conversation.

"Oh thank you Kara, and please call me Laura," she tittered with a look to Adam who also smiled. "And believe me, it doesn't always look this way. Our son is on a debate trip this week with his school and our daughter is with a friend on their family vacation to Florida. Tell me Kara, do you have children?"

"Ahh, no, no, no kids for me, that would be crazy," Kara responded without thinking before she realized how callous she was being. "I mean, I love kids. So cute and full of curiosity. Maybe someday for me, but for now I'm really trying to focus on my um, career."

"And have you had much luck? Has the housing market really recovered as much as the president insists?" Adam asked between bites of roast.

"Uh... well I do alright..." Kara stalled. "I'm still pretty new at it, only had my license for a month... no, three months. Oliver's, um, house here will be my first big sale. Or commission? Sale, it will be my first big sale."

"Kara's being modest," Oliver swooped in. "She continues to surprise and impress me through this whole process."

"Well... it seems you have a talent for meeting very capable women Oliver..." Laura teased.

"It's not like that Laura, really. Kara and I are just friends," Oliver added, reaching over to grab the last egg roll just as Kara eyed it. "Right Kara?"

"Not gonna be friends much longer if you don't hand me that egg roll."

They all had a laugh at that ("But seriously, give me that egg roll.") and soon dinner was finished and Laura brought out bowls of custard for dessert. Oliver tasted it and immediately started talking about butter to cream ratios or something that Laura and he babbled on about for what felt like all of dessert. She and Adam sat quietly, sharing a look once in a while as if apologizing for their respective partners.

It all felt very domestic.

Dessert came to an end and Oliver made some excuses for them. Laura hugged Oliver at least three separate times before they managed to leave and Adam kept mentioning that Oliver should get back into a fantasy league with him, even with the distance between them. It took Kara a good five minutes before she realized that Adam was talking about Fantasy Football and not Dungeons and Dragons. The Hoffman's were standing in their doorway waving as Oliver and Kara got into their car, both of them breathing a sigh of relief. For some reason Kara had been carrying a lot of tension in her shoulders.

"So... Oliver Queen... mayor of Star City, secret master archer, _and_ iron chef?"

"I can have other interests," Oliver smiled.

"I know but still... wow!" Kara laughed. "So far, of your friends I have met, there's Barry, the Russian mob, and the Hoffmans. If that doesn't say it all..."

"I'm a complicated guy," Oliver remarked as he started backing them out of the Hoffman's driveway.

"Well sure, we're all complicated when you look close enough, but Oliver, you are like a whole other person. I've never seen you like that. That was like watching a dolphin walk on land or a cat wear a leash. Which I've seen before and trust me, it's a sight that doesn't leave you."

"Is it really that crazy that I would like them? The Hoffman's are good people."

"No, they're great, but I don't have anything in common with them. I assumed you wouldn't either," Kara explained as they were stopped at a red light. "You were like a retired dad in there. I mean, how do you go from stabbing a man in the throat and committing arson and then joke about duck recipes like Martha Stewart a few hours later?"

"Who says I don't have anything in common with them? No they don't know my secret and probably never will, but I care about other things. Is your life 100% Supergirl all the time?"

"No, of course not, I wasn't saying that," but as soon as Kara said that, she wondered. Most of her friends knew her secret, her family, even her ex-boyfriend... she couldn't remember the last time she had done anything that wasn't work at CatcCo or being Supergirl. Kara didn't like this silence between them so she turned on the radio, shuffling through the stations until they were listening to a popular Top 40 sounding song.

"When I met Adam and Laura, I thought I was done with all of this," Oliver explained as the light changed to green. "My secret identity as the Arrow was compromised, Star City was being protected by Laurel and Thea and Dig, and Felicity and I were together. Fighting, archery, the Bratva, I didn't really need those things anymore. I needed to find new interests and I did. I found who I might have been had I never ended up on Lian Yu. Not the exact same person but someone different."

"I guess that's the part I don't understand," Kara responded as she leaned against her window and stared out at the street. It was raining now. "For my entire life I felt like something was missing, like I didn't have a place to belong or a purpose. Supergirl was the answer. Being a hero was the thing that I was missing the entire time. Giving it up now... it would be like losing part of my soul. Since I came to this planet, I couldn't imagine a 'normal' life for myself."

"Well I had a 'normal' life before anything. I felt lost and confused but looking back, that was just immaturity. I had everything I could ever want, people who loved me, a person I loved more than anything, and I threw it all away over nothing. Over a whim. I didn't realize how happy 'normal' could make me. For a while I got to find out."

"And Laura and Adam remind you of that, of the time in your life when you got to be 'normal' again."

Oliver was silent until he changed topics. "Why does this matter so much to you?"

Now it was Kara's turn for a silent pause. "Because... I want to understand you."

That's when they pulled into the driveway. Kara saw that a light was on in the living room, probably Thea working on something, and it made Kara want to stay in the car a little longer. Oliver seemed to agree as he pulled the keys out of the ignition but otherwise didn't make any efforts to step out of the car. They sat in Oliver's rental car, the sound of rain gently tapping on the roof while the radio played some sort of pop ballad about a boy trying to apologize to a girl for sleeping around. Kara changed the station and found a song that she liked, something quiet with a piano.

"You do understand me, more than you probably think," Oliver finally spoke, moving in his seat so he was turned to face her.

"Okay, I know things about you that a lot of people don't, sure," Kara rationalized as she turned to face him as well. "But that doesn't count. We're like in the same line of business. Or whatever. You didn't tell me these secrets because you trusted me. You told me because I'm Supergirl. You knew I would keep your secret as a 'professional courtesy' and if I didn't, well I'm an alien from another world, no problem there."

"Well those are just the secrets. I'm not all my secrets."

"But when you do this and you have to keep a secret identity... the secret _is all of you."_

"No it's not," Oliver's voice was stern and Green Arrow like and yet when he reached over and put his hand over her knee it felt gentle. "I used to think that way and all it does is spin your head around. You're every part of yourself, the good and the bad, the mundane and the heroic. Yes I've killed people, yes I've been to far-off places that aren't on any map, I've seen things that defy the laws of physics and I've even seen the supernatural... but I've also gone to my sister's equestrian competitions, partied with super models, gotten arrested for punching a paparazzi, fallen in love, taken up cooking and gardening, and now I've had to learn civil service laws and sociology as mayor. These aren't multiple parts of myself, they're just all things that make up who I am."

Kara felt like she wasn't getting her meaning across well. "I feel like, if you have all these complicated, different parts of you and all of them are equally true, then you struggle with knowing who you really are."

"And again I ask, why is it so important that you know exactly who I am?"

"You know why," Kara spoke without thinking. "I just... I don't know what I'm saying."

Kara had officially been on the wrong Earth now for two weeks. Two weeks she had wondered if Alex was worrying about her, what Hank or Winn were doing to try and find her. Was James making sure that Snapper didn't fire her? Was Mon-El adjusting to Earth without her help or had he fallen back into bad habits? Had the city been attacked? Was National City wondering "Where is Supergirl?" Some nights she woke up from nightmares of finally returning home only for everyone to have forgoten her. She had been gone too long.

Yet underneath all of that had been Oliver. At first it was fine, just a little crush. Kara had basically given up on dating after she couldn't make it work with James and she was feeling needy. Oliver was an incredibly good looking man. It was just that, nothing more. As they continued to work together though, she couldn't help but be pleased that they continued to... "click." All of the touches, the glances, the laughs, the looks, the silences, it was like she couldn't help but be drawn in by Oliver and every step of the way he seemed to do nothing to stop it. She was sure he felt it too. Two weeks she and Oliver had worked together and this feeling continued to grow. It excited her. It scared her.

"No, I get it," Oliver whispered, his hand still on her knee.

"I just want to know that I'm not crazy," Kara managed to get out. "That I'm feeling these feelings for the right reasons."

"What?" Oliver sounded offended as his hand disappeared. "You're trying to moralize your feelings?"

"I'm a superhero, okay? Meaning my decisions have vast reaching consequences, more than you realize," Kara justified even as she brushed her hand over her own knee, to cover the cold breeze she felt there. "I have a job that eats up all hours of my day, and along with that Supergirl is a symbol of hope to National City. Then there's the fact that I'm one of the last of my kind... there's so much to consider before I even think about... let alone with someone who has their own secret life and responsibilities."

"I understand Kara and I agree," Oliver said. "There's no place for that kind of distraction in our work."

"What? That's not what I mean," Kara argued. "Being a hero doesn't mean you're not allowed to have more."

"Doesn't it? When was the last time you dated someone since you've been Supergirl?"

"I... I had something... but it..."

"But it ended. Because you ended it," Oliver suggested and Kara must have given it away somehow because he just nodded and continued. "Because deep down you know I'm right. The work comes first, period. That's why you're spending so much time analyzing me. You're looking for a reason to stop feeling this way."

"No Oliver that's not what I'm doing," Kara tried to explain but even as she said it she could feel the lie under her words.

"It's okay. Like I said, I agree with you," Oliver repeated. His composure was exactly the same since he parked the car, unlike Kara who felt like she was about cry or scream or both. "Sometimes there doesn't need to be a specific reason. It would be bad. I would be a bad fit."

Now Oliver was lying. Kara was sure of it. Maybe he was right that she was fighting this but now she saw that he was fighting it too. Now she understood and it was like she couldn't imagine how she had missed it before. Even though a very real, very loud part of her was screaming to stop, a softer, stronger part of Kara made her reach up and touch Oliver's cheek, her palm running over his stubble as she turned his head slightly to look at her.

"It wouldn't. It. Wouldn't."

"Kara..." Oliver sounded a bit breathless and his words cut off completely when her fingers began to gently pull on the back of his neck.

"Maybe it would-"

Oliver's cell phone started ringing, making them both jump back. All of the air from everywhere in the multiverse seemed to fill the car again and Kara's hand fell away as she felt herself move back in her seat. Oliver stayed still but then like a robot reactivating after a hard reboot he reached into the pocket of his khakis and pulled out his phone. He looked like he was debating hanging up but then Oliver accepted the call.

"What do you have for me? Uh-huh. Good work. I'll bring up the file in a few minutes. Thank for staying on top of this. Anything to report from the team? Good to hear."

Oliver ended the call and Kara knew the moment was gone. The crackling energy that had filled the car had exploded and Oliver had survived and returned to his focused, deadly self. She was no longer surprised by the shift that happened when he went from Oliver "normal guy" to Oliver "Green Arrow."

"Felicity got us something off of our surveillance on the Thinker. He's having important cargo transported to his base in three hours. We need to be there."

"Then let's suit up," Kara agreed.

***

The truck was the only car on the back road, going at a careful 35 mph. Four men were in the back, two in the front, all of them armed with Inertron bullets and Gravity Guns. According to the geiger counter that Felicity had given them there was Pollen in the front seat too, meaning there would be Kryptonite. Kara was psyching herself out a bit but Oliver assured her that as long as they stuck to the plan, everything would be fine. No matter how insane it seemed.

"Ready?" Oliver shouted over the wind.

"You're asking me if _I'm ready?!"_ Kara cried down to Oliver.

"On three then!"

Kara wanted very badly to brush the hair out of her face but her hands were full so she had to settle for spitting the strands out of her mouth. Even though Oliver didn't weigh that much to her and her super strength, Kara had never realized leather could be so slippery. He managed to pull himself up a bit by his arms as she carried him making his biceps flex in between her fingers in a very distracting way. The most aggravating part though was that Oliver was reacting to them flying at 45 mph like he was on a leisurely walk through the park. Flying was cool! He wasn't reacting appropriately.

"Focus!" he shouted, snapping Kara back into the present and their insane idea. "One... two... THREE!"

She tried not to scream. Kara threw Oliver forward and watched as he landed on top of the truck and rolled into the fall before turning back and attaching the magnetic grip to the top. He gave her a nod so she took her signal and floated down, hitting both back wheels with her heat vision. The truck's back bounced for a second and then hit the ground, the wheel bearings giving off sparks. That slowed the truck enough for Kara to float down and grip the back bumper, pulling the truck to a harsh and sudden stop.

Oliver was thrown a bit but soon regained his balance and ran toward the front of the truck, jumping up and then landing on the windshield. Oliver's knee went into the driver's face and as Oliver finished landing on him, he reached over and gripped the passenger by the collar to smack his head into the dashboard. Oliver crawled out a few seconds later and gave her a nod, the signal that the driver and his passenger were unconscious and that the Pollen with it's Kryptonite was safely neutralized. Kara flew up and over the truck's back again, scanning the inside with her x-ray vision.

"One is out cold it looks like. The other three are getting weapons out and loading them."

"Let me know when," Oliver ordered as he held a small cylindrical device up and pressed a button on the top.

All three men were now sufficiently armed to the teeth with rifles and handguns so Kara shouted "Now!"

Oliver threw the device onto the street and instantly all the conductive metal in the area went flying through the air to attach to it. It was actually part of a trick arrow that Oliver had used before but he modified it into a sort of bomb before they left, to make sure no one connected this attack to the Green Arrow.

All of the guns and knives and various other equipment that the guards were wearing flew forward toward the bomb, causing them to be pulled forward, bursting through the double doors of the truck and straight into Kara. Three punches later all three guards were down for the count without a single Inertron bullet fired.

"Hat trick!" Kara laughed, glancing down at the unconscious men all bundled together by magnet bomb.

"Didn't know you liked hockey," Oliver remarked as he hopped off of the roof.

"I'm complicated," Kara dripped with sarcasm.

They went inside the truck, ignoring the money and weaponry strewn across the truck floor to focus on the large briefcase that was lined with lead, making it impossible for Kara to x-ray inside. The briefcase was huge, almost as tall as her when it was laying on its side, and there were several locks with complicated mechanisms and something called a genetic sequencer over the latch. According to Felicity's intel it was supposed to be the type of lock that A.R.G.U.S. (the Earth-1 DEO from what Kara understood) used to protect its most dangerous assets. It could even withstand a high pressure detonation.

After Kara ripped the sequencer off she turned the case over to open it, making eye contact with Oliver first to check in. The plan was for her to open it in case it was dangerous or radioactive or otherwise requiring invulnerability. Oliver would be on hand to help her with a quick exit if it was Kryptonite. Not likely though, Kara thought. It seemed like a case for weaponry, being so big. Oliver had reasoned at the house that it was probably equipment for some sort of research.

They were both wrong as Kara opened the case, a hiss of smoke billowing out as she did so. Inside was a... man. A naked man. He was curled up on his side, seemingly asleep, an I.V. already prepped in his arm. The man had stubble on his face and closely cropped brown/grey hair... and tattoos of playing cards on his arms.

"I know this man," Oliver said as he reached down and touched the man on the neck.

"Is he dead?" Kara asked more confused than ever and trying to ignore the man's nudity.

"He's alive..." Oliver diagnosed, looking grim. "But he's weak."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Jeremy Tell. He's a metahuman we put away in Iron Heights last year."

"What would the Thinker want with him?"

"He's graduated from recruiting metahumans to studying them," Oliver answered as he stood next to Kara. "The Thinker is trying to make super powers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed, leave a comment and/or a kudos! If you didn't enjoy, you're dead to me but also still leave a comment!
> 
> BTW, if you want to ask broader questions about the story (or updates on the next chapter) you can follow me on tumblr at roddytheruin.tumblr.com


	9. Chapter 9 - Be Honest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Kara get frustrated with their lack of progress and let off some steam.

The automatic camera clicked three times, taking photos of the man as he lit his cigarette. The Thinker's compound was well-protected and made to look abandoned most of the time, but everyone once in a while one of his henchmen would come out for a smoke break. This same guy had already come out five times in the past two hours, every forty minutes, on the dot. Even though they didn't really need anymore pictures of him, Oliver let the camera continue to click, the lens set to take pictures as soon as it detected movement.

Without a thought, Oliver reached across Kara's seat and opened the glove compartment to grab their stakeout journal, marking the date and time. It was becoming so routine that Oliver was able to write everything down, close the composition book, and toss it back into the glove compartment without so much as glancing over at Kara.

They were in the front seat of a disguised pickup truck (it was an A.R.G.U.S. vehicle made to look abandoned) theoretically in stealth positions to make sure no one noticed them. In truth most of their caution had disappeared along with their patience hours ago, right around the guy's second smoke break. They had bugged the facility, were tracking heat signatures with S.T.A.R. Labs satellites, they'd even had Kara hover over the site and scan it with her x-ray vision, and still they didn't have any real idea of what was going on inside. Kara had been open about her frustration from the start and it was starting to get to Oliver too. For every step forward they took two steps back.

The discovery of Jeremy Tell had only raised more questions.

"Wow, now people are bringing us their metahumans vacuum-sealed," Cisco had joked between sips of Icee as he and Caitlin Snow stared down at the unconscious Tell, tied down to a hospital bed.

"His platelet levels are a bit low, he's Vitamin-D deficient, but I don't see any major alterations to his genetic structure," Dr. Snow had checked off a list on her tablet.

"So you don't see any signs of experimentation? Maybe even something foreign in his body?" Oliver asked, grasping for straws.

"What about Kryptonite?" Kara added.

"No, his system-"

"Wait!" the strange Harrison Wells with the undercut hair shouted as he pointed at a screen next to Barry's suit. "There's a thing, like a thing-thing with the thing, the you know it, you love it, the thing- come on, you know-"

"Look at that. There are low-level signs of Kryptonite radiation," Cisco jumped in.

"Exactly, like I said," Wells nodded.

"So someone experimented on this Double Down guy with Kryptonite?" Kara asked, excited at the new information.

" I don't think so, the levels of exposure are too low, that's why I almost missed it. This kind of radiation signature would only come from indirect contact. Maybe Double Down held a piece of Kryptonite in his hand or... I don't know, tripped into a pile of it on his way to work."

"Then what is the connection? Why was this guy in a box and why was that box being delivered to Carmichael?" Kara huffed.

"Who knows? If Oliver is right and this dude has decided to experiment on metahumans, then most likely the Thinker, lame name BT Dubs-" 

"He named himself," Kara interjected.

"-well there you go. Never let them name themselves. Nothing has been done to Tell as far as I can see. There aren't any clues to gather off of this guy, sorry..."

Cisco went quiet after that, sensing Kara's mood. She fumed for the rest of the visit until Oliver had to take her aside to the hallway outside the time vault.

"I'm fine, I don't need a lecture," Kara had started, crossing her arms and avoiding eye contact.

"I won't lecture you," Oliver chuckled. "I just wanted to talk. You seem on edge."

"I'm on edge because I've been on this Earth for three weeks and we still haven't made any progress. We have surveillance on his base, we've interrogated people who work for him, you've even sicked the Bratva on him but it feels like we're getting nowhere. I feel powerless."

Oliver placed his hand on Kara's shoulder. "I understand. I'm frustrated too, but you have to get control over your emotions. If you can't hold onto that, then we're really in trouble."

Kara quickly turned Oliver's gesture into a hug, pulling him close and almost curling his spine as she pressed her face into his chest. After a moment of shock and awkward wonder, Oliver wrapped his arms around Kara, feeling the smooth planes of her back with his hands and pressing back against her hip to hip. Kara rubbed her forehead softly over Oliver's neck, her hair ruffling and fanning out under his nose, the scent of her disarming him.

"I know that," Kara had whispered. "I just feel like I'm going crazy the longer I'm stuck here."

"I know, I know," he murmured, unable to think of anything else.

"You're the only thing keeping me going right now Oliver."

For some inexplicable reason, Oliver remembered the outfit that Kara had been wearing more than anything. After weeks of borrowing clothes from Felicity and Thea, Kara had managed to find enough time to go shopping for her own clothing. She was wearing a green checkered skirt with a striped, pale blue shirt and a darker blue cardigan over that. The blouse even had this stiff collar that brushed against Oliver's throat with a starchy, sharp sensation but he didn't mind. It wasn't a remarkable outfit, nor was it as revealing or glamorous as something Thea or even Felicity would wear. It was just an outfit that looked very Kara Danvers. Somehow that made it stick out in Oliver's mind more.

He wasn't sure when that hug ended but all at once Kara pulled back and adjusted her glasses, muttering a thanks before she walked back to the Cortex. Oliver stayed back, watching Kara walk away as he tried to regather his composure.

"Be very careful."

"What?" Oliver startled.

The strange Harrison Wells that Barry had been working with for the past few months approached from the shadows, spinning a drum stick between his fingers. The man was smiling and nodding in a way that he didn't appreciate, so Oliver reverted to his careful stare that Felicity had dubbed his "Hood stare" five years ago. To the man's credit, the strange Wells from another universe merely nodded and patted Oliver on the arm as he walked past, seemingly unaffected.

"I said be careful of that one Mr. Queen," the new Wells explained before he turned a corner. "Ms. Danvers strikes me as the type who has more than enough gentlemen callers."

"Kara is too honest for that kind of thing."

"Yes, exactly as I said. That type always breaks the most hearts without even knowing. Classic archetype; the ingenue."

Even though Oliver had no idea where that interaction came from or why this new Wells felt the need to say something to him, the words bounced around Oliver's head a bit. It didn't matter if Kara never dated or went through a string of guys every week, that was her business and it didn't matter. And yet a part of him wondered...

Tonight Kara was wearing a long, sort of denim blue jacket that went down to her knees, and underneath was a cropped, black sweatshirt with green stripes, and high-wasted jeans. Oliver himself was wearing a dark sweater and darker pants, in case they needed to suddenly go on foot. Even though he'd suggested they dress for covert ops, Kara's outfit managed to also be... normal. She looked like a girl Oliver would have seen at a poetry reading in college and promptly ignored.

Oliver was realizing a lot of things about Kara recently. She seemed different than any other person he'd ever met, beside the alien super powers part. She was equal parts brave and anxious, noble but hotheaded, sure of herself and yet constantly checking her decisions against others... she was unapologetically feminine and also unapologetically strong. Oliver had a lot of experience with strong women but Kara wasn't just a strong woman, she was strong in a way that he couldn't easily analyze. Hope wasn't a choice for Kara. Fighting wasn't a rush, it was a burden. Her super strength was eclipsed by her gentleness. Full of contradictions, Kara didn't struggle to realize the best version of herself like Oliver tried and failed every day. She just trusted herself and her instincts, and forgave herself when she made mistakes. He envied that.

His attraction to Kara was always there, sure but under the surface. He hadn't wanted to acknowledge it but as they continued to work together, Oliver thought of her less as an alien and more as girl. Those thoughts spun out to more thoughts and at some point, without Oliver's realizing, something had happened. Oliver was smitten.

He must have been staring for too long because eventually Kara noticed and looked back, frowning.

"Aren't you getting sick of this?" she asked. "Always being one step behind Carmichael?."

"Being one step behind someone is actually a pretty good place to be," Oliver joked as his mind caught back up to the present. "It's easier to get the jump on them and hold onto the surprise."

"We're just wasting our time. Our surveillance can watch this place, we don't have to be here."

"If we're here when something happens, our response can be more rapid," Oliver explained for the fifth time.

"I just can't watch this guy smoke one more time," Kara griped. "Doesn't he know how bad that is for him?!"

"How about we talk?" Oliver offered to keep her from spinning out. "Maybe that will kill some time."

"I'm sick of talking to you," Kara complained, though with a light smile. "We've talked about everything, what's left to talk about?"

"We won't know unless we start talking."

Kara sat on that for a minute before she perked up and turned in her seat to face Oliver. "Alright then, I know what we could do."

"I'm ready."

"Truth or Dare!"

"Never mind."

"Oh come on!" Kara was laughing now, pushing Oliver with both hands, though in a playful manner without any super strength. When he remained unmoved, she wrapped her arms around Oliver's right bicep and pressed her chin against his shoulder, giving him some sort of... doe-eyed look. "Please, please, please?"

"Aren't we a little a old for something like that?" Oliver asked, quietly thinking that maybe he was the only one who was too old. It had come to light that Kara had lied about her age ("I was embarrassed!") when they met the Hoffmans, and Kara was actually 24 ("But my birthday is actually next month,") while Oliver had just turned 32. Kara really could have gone to school with Thea! Nothing had made Oliver feel more like an old man.

"Not at all, when I was a camp counselor we would play it all the time, even with the older staff," Kara explained, still squeezing his arm. "It's a good team-bonding game. Unless you have something to hide...?"

Oliver audibly rolled his eyes. "Alright, we'll play."

"Ladies first!" Kara declared as she let go and leaned back against the passenger side door, effecting an air of casual confidence. It was a bit undercut by the monkey face socks she was wearing under her grey loafers ("No heels Oliver! NO HEELS!"). 

"Oliver Queen... Truth or Dare?"

"Dare I guess," Oliver sighed.

"Oh that's no fun! You're supposed to do Truth and only use Dare as a punishment," Kara whined. "Whatever... I dare you to crank call someone. Someone in Oliver Queen's life, not the Green Arrow."

He already had his phone out. "Hello, Councilman Dexhart? I just wanted to ask you something about the budget re-proposal committee you're heading. Why am I seeing petty cash spent on a line item labelled, 'Mexican dancers'? This not only feels inappropriate but possibly racist. No, I don't need to explain myself, I'm the mayor, you need to explain yourself to me or I'm going to send the ACU to your doorstep right now. I don't care if the freaking Pope himself is visiting you, I want answers right now."

"Oh my god this poor man, I feel terrible," Kara whispered even as she held back her laughter.

"Alright, I just want to make one thing clear... did you or did you not feel the love tonight? Say it!" Oliver pressed the speaker phone button so Kara could hear.

"I feel the love tonight! I swear this is a huge misunderstanding Mr. Mayor-"

"I know, I know," Oliver decided to let the guy off after that. Oliver spent a few minutes assuring him that everything was fine and eventually promised that they would play some rounds together at a golf club where Dexhart was trying to become a member as an apology. "A few games with the mayor, and I'm sure their admittance board will look at any future member applications you submit in a different light. No problem, thank you for humoring me tonight counselor. Thank you, yes. Say hi to Marianne for me. Good day."

"Oliver!" Kara laughed after he hung up the call. 

"The guy already thinks I'm an idiot. No harm done."

"Crank calls are supposed to be anonymous! You didn't have to tell him who you were!"

"I went above and beyond," Oliver shrugged. "Which you can keep in mind as I ask you, Truth or Dare?"

"Alright, starting strong," Kara laughed. "I'll play the game properly and say truth."

Oliver already had the chamber loaded. "Have you ever used your powers for personal gain?"

"Hey, I'm not a perfect angel or anything, I have layers," Kara defended. "As to that... okay, once in college, but only once... I used my powers to cheat on an exam."

"Really?" Oliver asked, genuinely surprised and grinning.

"It was a required Statistics course and I'd already had to drop it once. I was taking it for a second time and I knew I was going to fail the class unless I got at least an 80 on my final, so... I used my x-ray vision to read the professor's answer sheet. But I only cheated enough to pass! Got out of the class with a 60. That tanked my GPA by the way, so I think I suffered enough for my crimes, wouldn't you say?."

"I can't believe I have to work with a dirty cheater," Oliver joked. "But I grant you a mayoral pardon."

"I have heat vision. You've seen it."

"You could use your heat vision, or you can continue the game."

"Truth or Dare Oliver Queen," Kara whispered with a deadly look in her eye that sent pleasant shivers down Oliver's back.

"Truth."

"Are you really this pervert guy that I keep reading about in the news?"

"Well maybe at one point but no, not anymore," Oliver was surprised by the question but used to answering it in interviews and meetings, especially in his early weeks in office. "Anything you read that's not from ten years ago is probably just a lie."

"But you were like that once?" Kara insisted.

"I thought it was my turn. You can ask that on your next turn. Truth or Dare Kara Danvers."

Kara exhaled in annoyance but then said, "Truth."

"What question are you hoping I don't ask?"

"Wow, good strategy," Kara mumbled, her seemingly persistent smile finally starting to melt away into nervousness. "I don't know, probably something to do with my... dating life..."

"Got it," Oliver pointed at Kara and gave her a nod. "Go ahead and try me again, I want to hurry back to my turn."

"Oliver!" Kara acted shocked though she licked at her lips to try and hide a new smile. "Fine then, Truth or Dare? And please answer before this guy comes back out for his millionth smoke break."

"Truth."

"How many woman have you slept with?"

"You're really stuck on this, huh?" Oliver frowned.

"Your mouth is moving... sound is coming out... but I'm not hearing any numbers..."

Oliver had to give it some thought. "I would say around... 12? But I know what you're really asking is how many of those women had an actual relationship with me. In that case... more like 6. Maybe 7."

"The fact that you're not sure kind of gives me my answer," Kara sighed, not smiling but the playful atmosphere still charging them both. "Alright Queen, hit me with it. I pick truth."

Oliver wanted to go for broke... but apparently he was too nice for his own good. "What physical trait attracts you most?"

"Physical trait? That's so clinical Oliver," Kara giggled. "Probably... a good forearm? It's a little weird, but a nice forearm will go a long way in my book."

It took Oliver some self-control not to move his arms. "Truth me Kara."

"See how much fun we're having?" Kara joked, leaning in to wink at Oliver. "Alright then... what's your guilty pleasure? I can't imagine you just... relaxing. Even your non-hero related hobbies are cool things like cooking."

"Hey, I watch football when I have time," Oliver defended himself. "Guilty pleasure though... there was this little hole in the wall in Ivy Town that I loved. They had the best flautas I've ever had. They were also the first flautas I've ever had. I think I went there every day for a month. This was before I learned to cook and Felicity never knew. No one did. My dirty little secret I suppose."

"I knew we would find something in common!" Kara laughed before she placed her lips next to Oliver's ear and whispered. "Food is my dirty secret too."

Though Oliver had grown increasingly aware of his own attractions to Kara, part of the reason he was able to suppress those thoughts so well was because it seemed like Kara didn't reciprocate. Over the past weeks he and Kara had learned a lot about each other, fought and worked together in equal parts, and he'd even seen Kara partially naked (his most recent teleconference call still seared into his memory) but it was hard for Oliver to peg Kara's mindset. She didn't seem incapable of desire, yet it was hard for him to imagine her in a sexual way.

Or rather, sometimes it was too easy. Then there would be these moments, few and far between but more and more often, where Kara would give him a hint, a clue, something to make him wonder...

"Truth or Dare Kara," Oliver offered.

"Truth again."

"You seem so interested in my dating life, so tell me, do I pass the test? Would you date me Kara?"

Again Oliver was perplexed by Kara's reaction. He figured that was a very reasonable question for this game and yet for some reason Kara's eyes went wide and she pitched her neck back a bit, as if she just caught the scent of something displeasing. She looked around for her answer on the floor mats and out the window but otherwise stayed silent. Oliver tried his best to be patient and eventually she answered.

"Probably not..." Kara muttered with discomfort. "Sorry."

"No apology necessary," Oliver laughed, both relieved and a little disappointed. "If you want to, you want to. If you don't, you don't. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that. My ego can take a a friendly rejection Kara."

Nonetheless Oliver could feel the shift in energy and the crackling fun was gone and replaced by tension. Kara had been bubbly and excited, like a cat with a fresh bow of milk, but now her body language was guarded and unsure. It felt like a classic Oliver Queen move that he had managed to turn this playful, silly game into something too serious. Restoring that previous energy was outside of Oliver's area of expertise but he tried anyway.

"Truth or Dare."

"It's actually my turn," Kara muttered.

"Humor me."

"Dare," she sighed.

"I dare you to try some of those flautas with me," Oliver turned the ignition and shifted the car into drive. "If you don't think they're the best thing you've ever tasted then I'll owe you a favor. If they are everything I promised, you can owe me a favor."

"Oliver stop. This was a silly idea and I already owe you like a million favors... I want-"

"Doesn't matter what you want Kara," Oliver interrupted her attempts at trying to apologize or diffuse. "It's a dare. You have to do it. We're off to eat some delicious fried wheat tortillas."

"What about the stake out?"

"Like you said, nothing is happening. Might as well commiserate over good food."

Kara was frowning, still acting a bit distant, but slowly as they drove away Oliver spotted a smile forming. Whatever line he had crossed, Kara was starting to forgive and forget. It made sense when Oliver thought about it. If there was one thing he had learned about Kara Danvers after all these weeks, it was that she loved her food.

"Fried wheat tortillas?" she asked with a skeptical glint in her eye.

"You'll see."

"Alright, but I warn you I'm not easily impressed."

***

"My stupid mouth can't get them in my stomach fast enough."

Thea exploded into laughter, covering her mouth with a napkin while Oliver shook his head and chuckled. Kara was fitting three flautas into her mouth at once, her plate now brushed aside and forgotten as she started grabbing food right out of the bag. They'd been eating their meals on the move for the past few weeks, or at the very least on the coffee table in the living room, but for such a special occasion Oliver had suggested they eat at the dining table. Kara managed to convince Thea to join in and though she was skeptical of the flautas as well, they soon became a hit with Oliver's sister.

For Kara though, these little deep-fried treats were like a miracle from the red stones of Rao's winged spaceship. At first she had complained that they were just taquitos, those little rolled up burrito things that Kara ate when she was cramming for exams in college, but Oliver asked her to try them first before making a judgement. That first bite as they sat on the curb of Delancey Ave would ring through Kara's memory forever. Comparing these flautas to frozen taquitos was like comparing the Sistine Chapel to a wet basement. They were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, with just the right amount of cheese to perfectly coat the ground beef without it becoming overflowing. She literally almost cried right there in public.

And like a serial killer trying to suppress their urge to murder, Kara barely managed to control herself as she and Oliver saved the rest to bring home. Along with the flautas, they had bought some Mexican glass bottle Cokes, a horse-sized serving of rice, and some salsa, guac, and sour cream. Kara's ethicswee tested when Oliver suggested they split everything up three ways but thankfully he'd had his fill after three servings, Thea claimed to be done after one, leaving the last twelve for Kara. 

"It's crazy, you eat like the world is ending. How do you keep from ballooning up?" Thea asked as her laughter finally started to die down.

"Super... powers..." Kara mumbled between mouthfuls.

"I think this means I won our bet," Oliver tried to sneak in as slyly as possible.

"Shhh... don't disturb..." Kara responded, still eating while she dipped two finger tips into a small cup of sour cream and flicked it at Oliver.

"Hey!" Oliver shouted, standing up and moving toward her. A week ago Kara would have worried that Oliver's "killer instinct" was kicking in and that he was going to attack her but after spending practically every waking moment together for three weeks, Kara could now more easily recognize when Oliver was being Oliver rather than the other guy. This attack came from Oliver.

He dipped his arm as she tried to swipe it away and managed to grab a flauta from the bag that she had somehow missed, taking a bite before she could stop him. It was tragic to behold.

"Careful Kara or you'll never hear the end of this," Thea commented as she took a long sip of her glass bottle Coke (and looked like a freaking supermodel in a Superbowl ad while doing it). "Ollie once told me to try this Korean rice thing with raw egg-"

"It's called Bibimbap." 

"-and it sounded gross as hell but as soon as I tried a bite, it became one of my favorites. He didn't let me hear the end of that for weeks."

"That's different Speedy," Oliver said as he finished his flauta. "With you I've got my duties as a big brother to annoy you as much as possible."

"And indeed you did..." Thea rolled her eyes, followed by dipping her fingers in the guacamole and flicking it at Oliver.

"Hey!" Oliver shouted, in a way that Kara couldn't help but notice was different from when he shouted at her. The affection was similar in warmth but more "brotherly." It sounded like the way Alex might yell at her when they were being silly together. 

"See what you've done Kara? You set a bad example for my sister. And after I did you this favor and introduced you to your new favorite food."

Kara tried to control her giggle-fit and make a straight face. "I humbly apologize Oliver," she intoned before taking Oliver's hand on the table as a distraction while reaching up with the other hand to wipe a piece of avocado off his cheek. "I promise to keep control over my awesome aim and throwing abilities. In return I only ask that you keep your damn hands in your lap and don't touch a single scrap of food on this table for the remainder of the evening. Please."

"Your stomach is a menace," Oliver shook his head as he touched his cheek where her fingers had just lingered.

"Sorry, are my table manners not fit for such a meal?" Kara jabbed lightly.

"I used to eat wolf meat off of palm leaves and stones. This is a meal fit for a Queen, if not a Danvers."

"That was an awful joke..." Kara shook her head in mock disgust. 

Oliver just shrugged and they were left with a silence. Silent moments had been happening a lot between them lately. Oliver always seemed to be trying to read her. He was too keen for his own good, able to sense things about people without even trying, and Kara didn't like the thought of that third eye being turned on her. And yet Oliver wouldn't be Oliver without that intensity. It was just a part of the package along with the dark sense of humor, the stupid sense of honor, and his super cheesy taste in music.

Kara turned her hand over and in turn Oliver changed his grip, so now instead of holding his hand in a lock grip, they were just... holding hands. That familiar line across his finger tips, from regular bow string pulling, was still there along with the rough bumps along his palm and the scarring on his knuckles. They were the hands of someone who had done great violence in his life and yet they were also smooth and strong and warm and fit perfectly around her finger tips like a tiny hermit crab and its shell.

Too late Kara realized they were acting like a couple of weirdos, Thea visibly noticing. When Kara remembered they had company, she slipped her hand out of Oliver's a little less than gracefully. Thea kept staring, a tiny crease on her forehead moving a bit in thought before one eyebrow went up and she looked at her brother. Oliver either didn't notice Thea's look or was ignoring her, and a few seconds later Thea started smiling.

"You know what? I just remembered, I have a few more resumes to look through for our new needle clinic. I'm gonna go upstairs to my room, you can have anything I didn't finish Kara," Thea offered with a Cheshire grin. "Good night you two."

"Night," Kara managed to say through her blush while Oliver just nodded. They were alone now. 

Vulnerable. That was the problem. Whenever Oliver looked at her a certain way, it was like he was peeling back all the layers of awkwardness and "tactile telekinesis," as Caitlin called it, that usually protected Kara. And it wasn't just a crush. Kara had had crushes before, dated before, maybe even fallen in love before (it got thorny when she thought about the "L" word) but Oliver specifically carried an energy that both frightened and exhilarated her. It was a bit reductive to think of him as a bad boy but... quacks like a duck and all that...

Since becoming Supergirl, Kara had learned that it was important to self-analyze. When her anger and grief over Krypton's destruction and her parents' mixed legacy became revealed, she'd needed to deal with that to keep being a hero. When she thought that Hank had killed Astra, and was willing to write him off entirely because of it, only Alex revealing her guilt had made Kara take a step back. She would never give up on her sister, period, so she knew she couldn't give up on Hank either. When the city turned against her for her actions on Red Kryptonite, Barry had set her back on the right path: it wasn't about thanks, it was about doing the right thing.

Supergirl wasn't allowed to have baggage so Kara had had to work on hers, but when Oliver looked at her it was like she hadn't made any progress at all. All of her defenses fell away and yet it wasn't a feeling of failure or weakness that crawled up her back and sent shivers down her chest and into her belly. It was something she couldn't put quite into words. Something she couldn't define for herself. Or wouldn't.

The most glaring sign that Kara needed to deal with her "thing" about Oliver had come up a few days earlier. The "incident," as she now thought of it, still haunting their every quiet moment.

The Thinker, according to Oliver's Bratva contact, was supposed to be making another deal to find a dealer who could distribute his Pollen supply. Kara had gone to deal with it alone, since Oliver had promised Thea three separate times that he would attend a conference call with the heads of various labor unions in Star City. Though there was no issue, Kara took out the potential buyers and the Thinker's men without a problem. She'd managed to steal the Pollen supply (truck and all) and bring it to S.T.A.R. Labs for safe keeping, a slam dunk all around, and yet a part of her had been miffed. After weeks of Oliver being by her side non-stop, making promises that he would not rest until she was back home, his abandonment stung more than she cared to admit.

Which was silly! Oliver had only let her go because he knew she could handle it, she had even insisted she could handle it before she left, and had been nagging him from day one that she could take care of herself. There was absolutely no reason to be mad at Oliver and she knew that.

But those emotions that Kara had carefully learned to control over the past year and a half flared up stronger than ever and she excused it away as stress or deeper frustrations at being stuck on this Earth for so long but they felt just like that, excuses. Maybe she hadn't had enough of a rebellious phase in college.

Whatever the reason, when Kara flew home and heard Oliver laughing and joking around on his call, Kara let her worse thoughts affect her. Had Oliver just ditched her? Was an important business call supposed to be all laughing and fun? Was she turning into a crazy person by having these thoughts? A million and one ideas ran through her head as she stomped upstairs to change out of the black leggings and sweater she had worn, now riddled with bullets and blood, to change into a yellow ruffled blouse and burgundy pants. As she stripped down to her underwear though, an impulse struck her. An impulse that would lead to her doom and the end of her dignity.

The crazy part was that she wasn't even nervous. Padding down the stairs on bare feet, feeling the warm carpeted floor of the living room shift to the cold, slick linoleum of the kitchen, she had hummed to herself without a care in the world. When she'd opened the fridge, feigning that she was looking for something, she almost wanted to bend over and really become salacious with it but thankfully a shred of her remaining sanity stopped her.

Goose pimples were springing up on her chest when Oliver finally noticed.

"Kara? What are- what are you wearing?" Oliver squeaked. She never knew his voice could go that high.

"Most of my stuff is in the wash and I wanted to grab something," Kara answered as casually as possible before she turned to Oliver, holding a bottle of something, she didn't know what, in her hand. "Don't worry about it."

She had only done something like this once before. In college, when her boyfriend at the time had been having a particularly stressful day about a Chem exam, Kara had gathered her courage and snuck over to his dorm in nothing but a long pea coat and underwear. In retrospect that little surprise was the only reason their relationship had lasted another two weeks before the guy confessed that he was dating his lab partner on the side.

But Kara wasn't a dumb 19 year old anymore so she couldn't fathom why she had acted like one in front of Oliver. Over the pink, matching bra and panty set (very rare), Kara was wearing one of Oliver's gray dress shirts. And that was it. It wasn't even buttoned all the way. For a moment as Oliver stared at her in blank astonishment, Kara felt emboldened. There was no deep look or the analytical processing that she usually saw in his eyes. There was just vacant approval and maybe a little awe. It was funny and it was chilling.

Then the hammer fell when she heard a whistle, an old-timey street harassment whistle to be exact, but it hadn't come from Oliver. Like a horror movie, Kara slowly realized that Oliver was in fact not alone in the room. His teleconference was actually a video conference, and on four separate screens were a total of 12 strangers all staring at her. 8 of them were men, which weirdly made it worse even though it shouldn't have. As all the blood in the universe rushed to Kara's face, Oliver jumped with Green Arrow reflexes to move all the screens and their cameras, pointing them away from the refrigerator and allowing Kara her chance to escape.

But not before she caught one last thing from one of them: "Damn Queen, where do you find the time?"

Kara had exiled herself to her room for the rest of the day until finally Oliver knocked, saying they needed to start a shift of surveillance on the Thinker's base. 

"I'm-"

"Don't worry about it. Let's just focus on the work."

That was the final nail in the coffin of Kara's pride. While she understood that Oliver was trying to help her save face, a part of her was also annoyed that he could so easily brush off what had happened. Oliver's robot like focus clearly made him a great hero but it also made him an annoying butt. Not wanting to make it worse, while also being driven up the wall with the need to talk about it, Kara had become a little more testy and short with her patience ever since.

Until today. Until the flautas.

"They really are good," Kara said to break the silence. "Thanks for encouraging me to try them."

"Of course," Oliver nodded. "As long as you remember our bet."

"Alright alright," Kara chuckled, standing up to start clearing the table. "Think on that while I clean this all up."

"I'll help you."

"Great..."

They cleared everything up and had the dishes put away in no time at all. Kara had been trying to think of something to say the whole time but the fifteen minutes seemed to slip through her fingers and then she and Oliver were just... standing. He was leaning against a counter and she stood by the dining table, fiddling nervously with her hands. Oliver seemed to be avoiding eye contact so Kara enjoyed the chance to not have her soul or whatever peered into.

"So what is this great favor that I now owe you?" she finally asked.

"Maybe just... help me understand something," Oliver responded quickly, clearly ready for this moment. "Before, when we were in the car, you said you wouldn't consider being involved-"

"I think the exact words were 'would I date you?' Which is a little different."

"Well, what is the difference?" Oliver asked, continuing to avoid eye contact.

"Oliver it doesn't matter. Do you really want to date me?" Kara tried to laugh but as the words tumbled out of her mouth, she couldn't help but do her own version of the Oliver Queen stare, trying to read something in Oliver's body language.

"I think... it would be a bad idea," Oliver said in a restrained voice that matched his forearms as they strained, pulling on the counter. It was stupid and distracting.

"I agree," Kara whispered running her hand over her forehead, surprised to feel the perspiration there. "But I..."

"But?"

"You haven't said anything!" Kara blurted. "I mean Oliver, you saw me in all my bits, did it not affect you at all?"

"Of course I- god, of course I-" Oliver stopped and started a bit before he let go of the counter behind him and held his hands up in a defensive pose, his head turned up to look at the ceiling. "You keep throwing me off. I want to be patient and I keep reminding myself that you're in a vulnerable place. I want to keep my distance but then sometimes Kara, you do not make it easy for me."

Kara nodded blankly, even though she didn't really understand it. They just kept dancing in circles over and over and there seemed to be no way to stop it. She had broken every insecure belief she had ever had about herself, had faced all of the bad feelings about her parents, her planet, and the human race, yet something behind an unmarked door was terrifying her. It seemed to be terrifying Oliver too.

Watching him, that restrained strength, the power that he seemed to always exude on the edge of a blade, was spilling and getting sloppier by the moment. What she had thought was frustration looked almost more like defeat. What was she fighting? The logistics of being from two different universes? The difficult path of relating to someone who was so different from you? Didn't she do that all the time? It felt pathetic that she was letting a stupid, dumb, jock guy with zero emotional intelligence rock her worldview so much and yet... and yet...

He looked at her for the first time since Thea left and Kara had shaken his hand away from her. When she had rejected him...

"You know, I've seen so many people in my life make themselves miserable over nothing," Kara babbled, thinking of Ms. Grant and Alex. "And every day I think, if everyone in the world would just go for the thing that makes them happy instead of the things that they think they have to do, there wouldn't be a need for Supergirl."

"Well..." Oliver smiled slowly. "I don't like to imagine a world like that."

"You don't have to. You live on a world where Supergirl isn't real. That's why I need to go home. That part of myself is missing."

"And I-"

"And you'll help me do that, I know!" Kara laughed, brushing away Oliver's attempts to comfort her. "But I think just because I'm going through this thing, just because my life and everything going on is so crazy, that doesn't mean I shouldn't be true to myself and live by my beliefs. I should go for what I want before it's too late!"

"It's not too late," Oliver replied.

Growing up with Alex, being afraid that she would be discovered as an alien or bring unwanted attention to Jeremiah and Eliza, Kara had gone her whole life being very careful about her powers. As she started to use them more as Supergirl, that desire had shifted to a sense of responsibility. She had to make sure she used her powers properly and never terrify or subjugate others, even when it was for the greater good. Her powers always forced Kara to keep in balance. She would normally never use them on non-bad guys.

But Oliver Queen seemed to break all the rules. Without a thought Kara super sped toward him until Oliver's lower back was pressed against the counter, his arms held to his sides by Kara. She'd even used some super strength instinctively when Oliver struggled but slowly they both stopped fighting it.

"What are you doing?" Oliver whispered.

"Team-up, remember?" she asked as she slid her hands up from Oliver's arms and over his cheeks. "I'm trying to be brave..."

It was nothing like she'd imagined and everything she had hoped. HIs kiss was hard and urgent, his stubble scratching on her chin in a way that was uncomfortable yet also gloriously intimate. It was like exploring something sensitive and private. It excited her. HIs hands ran through her hair before gripping the back of her head, the pressure on her scalp making her legs melt as he deepened the kiss, exploring her lips and tongue. Kara wasn't one for thinking that people had a "taste" or anything weird like that, but she could still smell the onion and avocado on his lips and taste the grease and salt in his mouth. She wanted more.

Maybe it had been five seconds. Or five minutes. It felt so rushed and urgent, like at any moment they would be torn apart. A low, thrumming heat in her belly urged her to go slow, to run her senses over every second of Oliver's skin, to make sure she received every bit of his desire. 

It was hot. It was really hot. Sweet-stinging heat was prickling over her breasts and up her neck and when it came to her head, her brain felt like it was swimming in chocolate. Caramel chocolate. That divine feeling drizzled down her neck and down her back, warming her and making her tremble.

Then it went a little too low.

"Whoa-kay!" Kara shouted, breaking the kiss and taking a few heavy steps back. She felt like she was panting but Oliver looked as unaffected as he aways did.

"I'm sorry," Oliver growled before giving a hearty chuckle that set Kara's imagination aflame again. "I guess I got unnerved there."

"No, no, Oliver that was... it was good," Kara said quickly, hoping to cut Oliver off before he said something that they might regret. "You just... went a little fast for me there."

"What do you mean? _You_ kissed _me,_ didn't you?"

"Yes and I will pat myself on the back for that later, but I meant... you were... Oliver, we were having a good time and then you tried to slide into third base..."

"Oh!" Oliver exclaimed. "Was I doing that? I-I guess I got too enthusiastic."

"It's fine, I've just never-" Kara cut herself off there before _she_ said something they might regret.

"You've never what?" Oliver asked, squinting in thought before his eyes went wide. "Wait, are you-"

"Guys! You have to see this," Thea interrupted, running into the kitchen, clearly fresh from the shower and in a bathrobe, before she stopped suddenly, reading the room. "Uh, you both okay?"

"We're fine," Oliver reacted first, always in control. "What's the emergency?"

"Okay..." Thea looked suspicious but eventually showed them her tablet. "There's like a monster attack happening in Hartford. It looks like that thing Felicity described, the creature that Kara fought a few weeks back?"

"The Floronic Man!" Kara exclaimed as she took the tablet and watched news footage of the strange plant creature from another dimension attacking a building in Hartford. "The news feed says it's destroying a cryogenics research facility. That thing works for Carmichael, this must have something to do with his plan. We have to go there and stop it."

"Kara slow down!" Oliver shouted. At first she was peeved that he was raising his voice at her until she realized she'd been already edging out of the room. "We have to think about this, we can't just go down there without a plan."

"But-"

"Kara, if you fly down there and try to fight that thing, it doesn't matter if you wear a mask, Carmichael will know it's you. And when he does he will either move out of town and we'll never find him, or he'll come up with a plan to kill you. Maybe this creature is meant to be a trap! You said it could interfere with your powers somehow, right?"

"It did..." Kara muttered before she shook her head and handed the tablet to Thea. "But I'm going anyway."

"Kara-"

"Oliver, I know you're looking out for me and I appreciate it but this isn't like before. I'm ready for this thing and you'll be there to provide me back up if necessary," Kara took a deep breath to settle her nerves from what just happened and to prepare her nerve for what she would soon face. 

"At the end of the day, all of our plans and strategies are just words. The reality is that this thing is going to hurt people and it is only here because of me, because I brought the Zoltam device to this Earth. Now I may be trapped here, but I won't let that stop me from being true to who I am. Not anymore. I'm going to go down there, I'm going to stop this thing, and I'm going to make sure no one else dies. Not on my watch."

This time Oliver lost control and kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bunch of fluffy nonsense. I had more plot action to add but this felt like the right ending to this chapter.
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a comment and/or a kudos! If you didn't enjoy, you're dead to me but also still leave a comment!
> 
> BTW, if you want to ask broader questions about the story (or updates on the next chapter) you can follow me on tumblr at roddytheruin.tumblr.com


	10. Chapter 10 - I Got Your Back (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Kara do some fighting. Others, not each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why hello strangers! So I know it's been a long time since I posted, and to be honest I only recently started writing again, so while I wanted to wait a little longer to finish this chapter, I decided you guys have waited long enough and it was time to update.
> 
> So I split the chapter in half and it will now come in two parts. So if this chapter feels a little short, that's why. You're getting half while I finish the other half because I wanted to get an update out ASAP. Let me know if you guys liked this or if you would have preferred the whole chapter.
> 
> Main point, this story is not forgotten, my real life has just interfered in my writing, here is a post to prove that I'm still alive.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The wind was a series of small explosions on her invulnerable ear drums. Geysers shot up as she tried cutting across a lakebed, misting her face with water as Kara focused on balancing without a cape. Flying always made all her thoughts and fears feel distant and unfocused, easier to deal with and harder to fear.

Except for now.

A million years ago Kara would have never imagined kissing Oliver Queen. Here was a man so intense and focused, so freaking stubborn, (and frankly a bit caveman-like) that she would have said to anyone who asked that she had trouble imagining him in a sexual way. Let alone in a romantic smooch-like way!

She had wondered for a while about this spark she had felt for Oliver, the passing glances and comforting touches simmering and building. She was surprised that one of them hadn’t snapped sooner, but then, neither of them had expected Kara to stay trapped on this Earth for such a long time. Even more surprising, Oliver had responded to her feelings with excitement and passion and a whole lot of tongue.

Clearly he was sexual. That much was clear now. Very clear.

Her super hearing locked onto the general sounds of destruction and screaming, a good sign that she was headed in the right direction, so her thoughts of stubble and strong hands on her hips would have to wait. Kara Danvers would let her mind wander over Oliver’s lips and chest later. Now Supergirl needed to take charge.

High above the research facility, half of the square complex was already reduced to rubble and flames. The giant creature that she knew to be Floronic Man was pulling concrete and steel out of the ground like it was picking weeds, hurling the debris in the direction of police cars and fire trucks, and civilians. Though SWAT teams were shooting the creature, being brave in the face of the extraordinary, Kara could see that they wouldn’t last long.

“Just remember, keep control of the flow of battle,” Oliver had advised while she was putting a comm link in her ear. Kara had already changed out of her stakeout gear into a blue and gold stress suit that Cisco had sent them, made of the same materials as Barry’s speed suit. No cape though. That had been Cisco’s main selling point, to Kara’s frustration.

“Oliver, I’ve fought giant monsters before. I’ve got this,” Kara laughed.

“Supergirl,” Oliver said in his Green Arrow voice, catching her attention. “This creature nearly killed you once already. Hartford is at least twenty minutes out on my bike. Any back up I have will be a long time coming.”

“I know, I know.” Kara took Oliver by the biceps (had she not noticed how freaking dense those puppies were before?) and smiled to comfort him. “Just believe in me. That’s all I’ve ever needed.”

He gave a weird, loud exhale out of his nose but eventually Oliver smiled, the worry still plain on his face. “I believe in you Supergirl.”

Kara nodded and took off, but not before she heard Oliver shout “Fight smart, not hard!”

“Helicopter parent much?” Kara had joked before taking off.

“Smart not hard. Smart not hard. Smart not hard,” she chanted to herself now.

Kara scanned the rubble and the building for something to use as a weapon, Oliver’s precious “situational awareness” coming easy when you had super senses. The Floronic Man still hadn’t noticed her floating in the sky, so a surprise attack was still possible. Flying toward the ground to pick up as much speed as possible, Kara stopped at the last moment before she hit the ground and carried her momentum forward at the Floronic Man’s footing. His strange root feet were tangled in earth and rebar and concrete, but to her that would be tissue paper. Pulling a jagged piece of metal debris out of the ground as she raced closer and closer, Kara swiped widely at the last second, cutting the beast like a weed-wacker at super speed. 

Tissue paper. 

Once past Floronic Man, she grabbed the tank of nitrogen she had noticed earlier and hurled it with an over the shoulder throw, straight at the Floronic Man who was only now starting to fall.

A blast of heat vision caused the nitrogen tank to explode in the beast’s face.

“Okay, that was pretty smart I think.”

The writhing, screaming mass of green and brown living vines caused her to grimace a bit but she could also hear the cheers of police officers and civilians near the scene. Normally this would have been about the time that Kara fly up and let the citizens know they were safe, but Supergirl did not live on this Earth and Oliver’s warning about keeping their identities as secret as possible made a hasty exit necessary.

Until something caught her eye, or rather her ear. As she ignored the sounds of cheers and applause, Kara heard the static of a radio as well as the heavy sound of metal being dragged across... well, whatever the building’s floors were made out of, maybe titanium?

“Okay, after this the Director wants at least three tanks of those and anything else marked with um… base levels 9 or above.”

“Copy that.”

Kara stared at the other side of the facility, the part that hadn’t been destroyed by the Floronic Man, and scanned with her x-ray vision. Though a few parts of the building were lead lined, she managed to see four men in black jumpsuits and masks, loading something into a large black-paneled van.

“Does Carmichael-“

“We call him the Director out in public.”

“Shit, right, sorry. Don’t want to end up like Joey.”

“It’s fine, no one is listening to the feed anyway. Too much distraction up top.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Kara whispered to herself. “One person is listening.”

She floated up into the air and was about to shoot through the building’s western wall, when she suddenly felt a sharp, painful pull on her ankle. Then a second, even more harsh pull that started from her back and then tightened around her neck. Managing to turn in mid-air, she saw that a few bits of Floronic Man were still aflame, yet from that mass of pulsating, weeping, alien plant-life were several vines and thorns latching onto her.

Kara gripped the first bits on her leg and tried to pull them off… and stopped when her palms suddenly stung. She didn’t recognize the pain at first. Her hand was covered in dozens of tiny scratches and holes, all bleeding but already starting to heal. The thorns on the vines that gripped her leg bit deeper into the muscle there.

After the moment of panic ebbed, Kara used her heat vision on the vines and was relieved to see that she was able to cut and burn the vines that way until the grip around her legs and back started to go slack. Giving another pull and flying up, the vines either retreated or broke off from the Floronic Man, freeing her and giving her a moment to breathe.

“Bishop this is Queen, er Knight, sorry,” Kara said into the comm, trying to make sure she only used code names like Oliver had suggested. “You need to get here as soon as possible. The attack is a distraction. Our mutual friend has hired hands trying to steal equipment and chemicals from the facility.”

“Got it, we’ll make sure that these guys are followed. How is the Green Giant?”

At that moment the Floronic Man roared, pulling itself together while also shedding layers of roots and vines that were still on fire. It stared up at Kara and roared again, this time making her teeth click and causing the police to retreat.

“I told you Bishop, I got this.”

Kara flew forward.

***

Felicity’s tracking program had been uploaded to a tablet, for “commoner use” as she put it, the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite feed now showing Oliver target locations.

He knew they would try to take the highway, since that was their closest and fastest route, so Oliver went for surface streets instead, cutting through alleys and crowded parking lots to head them off before the exit that would lead to the Industrial sector of Ivy Town and the Thinke’s base. He was going off a pretty broad assumption that that was their destination, but he felt confident in the call.

Even more so when he stopped at the closed down mechanic shop. Per the keyhole satellite, the van was on the road ahead, only thirty seconds out. Oliver and Kara had stashed surveillance equipment (and Green Arrow equipment) here to have a beachhead outpost close to the Thinker’s base. The shop was also on the only road that connected Ivy Town proper to the Industrial sector, making it the perfect choke point for an attack. Reaching under the dumpster to pull out a large black briefcase, Oliver started the count in his head.

“28… 27… 26… 25…”

Entering the code into the briefcase (Laurel’s birthday) Oliver popped it open and started assembling the composite recurve bow he had stashed inside days earlier. There were also three regular arrows and two explosives, giving him a total of five shots to make this work.

“13… 12… 11… 10…”

He just finished stringing the bow when the van appeared on the road, peeling out of a sharp turn and heading right toward him. Oliver picked up one of the explosive arrows, nocked it and aimed, wondering where his best placement would be. Shado’s words echoed through his head, to breathe and let the shot reveal itself.

“4… 3… 2… 1…”

He fired at the left headlight, the arrow taking out the lamp and then exploding, causing the hood to fly up and the van to suddenly skid right. Unfortunately the driver cut the wheel too quickly and the van decided to flip onto its side instead, the whole vehicle then rolling two times before simply sliding down the road on its side, sparks and dirt flying into the air. Oliver backed up a step as the van slid toward him, stopping about fifteen feet away from his position.

Grabbing the three pointed arrows, Oliver fired the first shot through the windshield at the driver, tagging him in the shoulder and pinning him to the seat. The backdoor of the van opened and Oliver nocked his next shot, taking the first man who got out by surprise and making him flip head over heels as his leg was hit by an arrow.

There were only two men left and Oliver made quick work of them, running up to one and disarming him of his gun before punching him in the head to knock him out, bow first for maximum wood (actually carbon composite) on skull impact. The other guy fired off three shots but Oliver barely had to dodge and weave they were so erratic and sloppy. Using the other man’s gun, Oliver threw it barrel first into the guy’s face, breaking his nose and making him pass out.

It was quickly apparent that these guys had not expected actual resistance, which Oliver took to mean that the plan was for the Floronic Man to distract everyone from the actual heist. Just as Kara had called it.

The mission successful, Oliver’s mind couldn’t help but wander to half an hour earlier. The kiss. It was clear to him now, as it had apparently been clear to everyone else in his life, that he and Kara had been dancing around that for a while. It felt like an explosion, his lips tingling as Kara awkwardly pushed her tongue into his mouth, sweet and insistent but also hesitant. Even the way she grabbed onto him, possessively but gently, had caused the hairs along his forearms to stand up and knock his head for a loop.

Of course, a kiss was a kiss, just an action. Oliver had a harder time thinking about what the kiss meant. While it was clearly more than just sexual, Oliver wasn’t ready to say that it was something deeper either. Kara had an energy, a brightness that seemed to draw in everyone around her and it was very possible that Oliver was just the latest victim to her charm. Even though she had kissed him first, had shown him more than once that she was attracted to him (Oliver knew when the ladies were into him, it was his super power according to Diggle), he could also sense that she was more unsure. Whether that came from something about him or something deeper about herself… well, Oliver knew how to charm but he would still argue that he didn’t know a damn thing about women in the important sense.

His thoughts ping-ponged back and forth on the matter. Kara didn’t live here. She was going to go home at some point, that home being another dimension. Or something. Not to mention she was an alien! An alien with corn-flower blue eyes and golden-rays of sunshine for hair that poured like syrup over a slender neck that looked both maddeningly smooth and smelled even better, but nonetheless she was an alien. It shouldn’t matter but it mattered.

“Well, it wouldn’t matter as much if we just kept it physical, but I don’t see Kara being into that. Kara strikes me as the type that doesn’t do a good job of separating feelings from physical.”

“Sure, sure, I get that,” Thea had agreed earlier as he changed into his tactical gear, about to follow Kara on his bike. “But you don’t know for sure. She might have a wild side. She’s Supergirl not a nun.”

Oliver sighed. “I’m sure we’ll talk about it later.”

“And that’s a bad thing? Ollie, you haven’t even tried dating anyone since Felicity. What’s wrong with just trying to, you know, move on?”

“Thea, I wanted to marry Felicity, okay? I wanted that commitment. I don’t really want to go back to keeping things… casual,” Oliver felt himself choosing his words carefully.

“Ollie, it starts casual and gets deeper over time,” Thea had argued, putting a hand on the front of his bike to stop him from leaving. “You aren’t even curious what it might be like?”

“Of course I’m curious. Just like I was curious about what my life would be like if I never went to that island,” Oliver argued as he put on his helmet and turned on the ignition. “Thoughts like that only distract us from the mission. And that’s not just me, it’s Kara too. She doesn’t call it a mission but we both know she has things she wants to accomplish as Supergirl that she can’t with a boyfriend who comes from, literally, another world.”

His words, Thea’s words, the kiss, the touches, Kara’s butt in his gray shirt; a storm of conflicts and emotions and urges was making his head cloudy as Oliver looked through the van, trying to see what the Thinker had wanted from the cryogenics lab. Dialing 911 and then placing the cell phone on the dash (and injecting the pinned driver with an anesthetic before he yanked the arrow out) Oliver took some pictures of the various tanks and devices, hoping Felicity or Curtis could ID them later. He was about to leave the van and get back to Kara, when he noticed that the driver had something in his pocket that was too large to be a phone.

It was a long cylinder, almost pen-shaped but about three times bigger, with one button on the side and some sort of light display that had three colors, red, green, blue. It felt heavy. Oliver was afraid he might break it if he tried opening the device, so he ran it over his palms to observe as much of the outer circuitry as possible. It had similar components to some bombs he had disassembled, as well as…

He realized what it was and immediately got on his bike.

***

She was on her last leg. Literally. The Floronic Man had managed to break something in her right leg that made it impossible to put weight on it without excruciating pain. Every time she started to fly away, the Floronic Man would throw these strange bombs into the air that dissolved into spores, choking and nauseating Kara until she couldn’t tell up from down. It had even learned that her heat vision was a danger, and now always managed to immediately shed off any parts of its body that started to catch fire. Punching it only hurt her and she was losing a lot of blood.

Hiding behind some sort of metal supply shelf, Kara had resorted to picking up pieces of concrete and rebar and throwing them at Floronic Man in a hail of projectiles but it was only slowing it down. She was running out of stuff to throw. Police had come back and were firing at the Floronic Man, trying to support her, but the bullets barely pierced the constantly shifting, amorphous body of vines and branches. This thing seemed impossible to kill, let alone defeat in any meaningful way.

“Alright, smart not hard. Smart not hard,” Kara said through a gulp of her own blood.

She used her heat vision again, this time aiming for everything around the Floronic Man instead of straight at him. It seemed to work, a ring of fire surrounding the creature and causing it pause. Kara took the chance to fly up into the air and scan her surroundings, looking for anything that might do some real damage.

As her x-ray vision scanned over the surrounding area, she spotted a familiar figure on a motorcycle. The broad shoulders and stiff demeanor were unmistakable.

“Oh no…” Kara groaned, worried now that Oliver would try and pull some chauvinist “heroism” and try to save her when this thing was obviously way out of his league.

The Floronic Man roared again and started throwing dirt and debris at the fires, snuffing the flames out one by one. Kara didn’t have much time. Looking at her hands, scratched and bloody from the creature’s strange thorns that could somehow cut through her invulnerability, Kara finally came up with an idea that was… well not good, but better than nothing.

Scanning the debris again, she saw a large metal door that had been caved in but was still in good shape. She super sped over to it and started melting it down to hot slag with her heat vision before plunging her hands into the liquid metal. Even with her invulnerability, running your hands through molten steel could be a bit uncomfortable, but Kara barely felt it compared to when she tried grabbing the Floronic Man.

The true test would come soon. The monster finally managed to break through the fire cordon to attack her, dark-green vines with red thorns whipping at her face, aiming for her eyes. It must have learned that her heat vision was her most dangerous weapon against it. On instinct she lifted her hand out of the molten steel and grabbed the vine before it could blind her.

The Floronic Man roared. Not only was she able to hold its vine now without any pain, the melted steel around her fingers was still dripping, making the vine catch on fire and writhe in agony from the heat. She crushed what was left of it in her hand to make a fist, the metal already starting to harden. Kara pulled her other hand out of the pool of melted steel and gripped that into a fist as well. When she looked at the Floronic Man, it’s strange head consisting of a mouth and two glowing gold eyes, she could swear that there was hesitation there.

“Round two.”

Flying fists first, Kara aimed for the creature’s head but darted down and left to hit its left flank instead. This time her fists punched through, shredding the Floronic Man’s side into wood pulp and swamp gas, the wound sizzling like a freshly built campfire.

Floating to keep pressure off her leg, Kara kept the pressure on the Floronic Man. Swiping away any vine strikes while hitting it everywhere she could think of, it felt good to finally be on the offensive. The Floronic Man was backing away, not quite retreating but its attacks slowing, its defenses weakening. At one point she managed to hit the creature right in the head, splitting it open down the middle like cutting a bagel. Before she could feel too bad about that though, the Floronic Man managed to regrow its head from the split opening, almost good as new. 

Though Kara could have sworn that the golden color of its eyes was dimming.

That’s when the Floronic Man did something truly bizarre. Instead of fighting her, it began to shrink back. Not just move back, shrink. It’s entire body, strangely huge and always seeming to grow, was now receding into a little ball that looked like a pile of bushes and felled wood that a boy scout had wrapped into a ball for safekeeping. Kara hesitated to approach it, so instead used het heat vision against it.

It caught on fire.

“I… I did it!” Kara shouted in surprise and relief as the ball of vines that was once the Floronic Man immolated and crackled like a marshmallow that was left too long over the fire.

Kara landed on the ground and gave a breath of relief, coughing up dust and smoke as she laughed and almost cried. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she could feel her aches and pains a little more, the melted metal surrounding her fists suddenly felt much warmer, and she realized that her leg wasn’t just broken, it was facing the wrong way.

Then she heard something.

Turning toward the sound, Kara’s saw that the street that was crowded by police cars and civilians, all trying to get a look at the attack, unnoticing of the road behind them cracking and bubbling like something was rising underground. Kara checked on the pile of burning leaves that was once Floronic Man with her x-ray vision and saw that there was some sort of hole under it, a hole that led to a tunnel… straight to the street.

“NO!” she shouted in terror as the creature exploded up from the ground, turning over news vans and police cruisers, and even people, roaring and whipping at them in a frenzied attack.

She flew toward the street, ready to keep the fight going, but the Floronic Man was ready for that. It gripped a motorcycle in its vines and threw it at Kara, which she managed to dodge, but at the same time it threw a minivan at the crowd of people, lifting and dropping it like a kid playing jacks. She had to catch it, and did, managing to get under the vehicle in the nick of time as frightened civilians below looked up at her in fear and wonder.

“Run, run now,” she grunted. They did as they were told but before Kara could place the minivan safely on the ground, her broken leg screamed as vines wrapped around it and squeezed.

The Floronic Man yanked her like a rag doll, causing her to lose her grip on the minivan and pulling her toward it’s face where its mouth was starting to open, a giant gaping tunnel filled with vines and strange yellow pustules weeping poisonous gas. She tried to punch the vine wrapped around her leg but before she could, more vines gripped her arms by the elbow, immobilizing her.

“Alex!” Kara shouted through the fog of her pain and fear.

The Floronic Man answered with a scream, the vines on her leg and arms slackening and the creature’s face suddenly shrinking, even as its screams grew louder. She didn’t understand what was happening until her super hearing picked something up. Through the noise of the creature’s screams and the commotion on the street as people ran for their lives, she noticed a faint sound… almost like a tone… soft yet she could feel it in her bones.

The source was a strange device that Oliver was holding up in the air like a torch.

Kara fell to the ground, no longer supported by the Floronic Man and too tired to fly, trying to catch her breath and regain some composure while she had the chance. She was on her arms and knees, shifting to keep weight off her leg, staring at the ground and focusing on anything but the roar of terror in her head and the blood and pain. There was a quarter on the ground. Minnesota it looked like.

“Aggh!”

She recognized Oliver’s voice instantly. Pulling out of her daze, Kara saw that the Floronic Man had grabbed hold of Oliver, wrapping more and more vines around him and tightening its grip. She could hear his bones start to shift and crack, like tension in an old bed frame, and she knew she only had seconds. The tone generator had fallen to the ground below Oliver’s feet, so she went for it. Though the Floronic Man managed to snag her arm with a vine even as it was crushing Oliver, she still managed to grip the tone generator and press the button.

The green light was yellow now and the Floronic Man didn’t just roar in pain, it wailed. It sounded like the noise a dog would make when it was scared, but lower pitched and louder. Oliver was suddenly dropped to the ground, knocked unconscious from the fall, and her arm was released as well.

She pressed the button again. The light went red. 

The Floronic Man didn’t scream this time. It just died.

The dark green vines slowly turned yellow and dry, almost straw-like, as the creature’s eyes started to dim and the rest of its face rotted. A few vines writhed and reached toward her, so Kara used her heat vision for good measure. Part of her felt sad for the creature, as it seemed to not understand what was happening and kept trying to regroup and regenerate itself as it had before, but a darker part of Kara was just glad that this thing would stop hurting her.

Soon the creature was just a pool of strange swamp liquid and dried up leaves and dust. Only then did Kara turn her back on it to check on Oliver. Before she even touched him she could hear his heartbeat and his breathing, making all of her pains feel lighter for a moment. She touched Oliver on the cheek and felt thankful for the warmth there.

“Oliver?”

“I’m good, I’m good,” he responded in a whisper, his voice gruff and shaken, but still strong. “Where’s the thing?”

“It’s gone, it’s dead or… I don’t know, it’s gone.”

“Good, good,” he repeated, trying to sit up and struggling a bit. “Knew you could do it.”

Kara laughed. She couldn’t help herself. She kissed him again.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed, leave a comment and/or a kudos! If you didn't enjoy, you're dead to me but also still leave a comment!
> 
> BTW, if you want to ask broader questions about the story (or updates on the next chapter) you can follow me on tumblr at roddytheruin.tumblr.com


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